Eight climate-resilient and solar powered labour and delivery rooms in health and wellness centres will be constructed in Ri Bhoi district.
A memorandum of understanding (MoU) was today entered between SELCO Foundation and the district administration represented by Deputy Commissioner Arpit Upadhyaa.
Ri-Bhoi is part of a larger programme that the State government is undertaking in partnership with SELCO Foundation to construct 300 climate resilient Health Sub Centres (SC) and powering all 620+ number of health facilities across the State in the next five years.
The State government has entrusted Sauramandala Foundation for capacity building and designs while Selco Foundation will be the technical partner for the project.
These centres are designed to functionally optimise space and flow of work inside the delivery room and provisions for a recovery ward for mothers from remote and inaccessible contexts. It also ensures greater thermal comfort with heating and cooling applications, natural lighting, earthquake resilience and for conservation of rain water for the utilisation in the health facility.
The agreement was signed in the presence of M. Tongper-ADC, the District Medical Health Officer- Dr P. Kharnarry, Additional DMHO – Dr B. Blah, delegates and government health representatives from Sierra Leone, Ethiopia and Burkina Faso as part of a learning exchanging program to replicate innovative processes and programmes designed to improve healthcare outcomes through sustainable built environment and decentralized renewable energy.
As part of the cross-learning exchange the delegates interacted and deliberated with the Mission Director of National Health Mission, Ramkumar on the strategy and approach for scaling energy and efficient appliance solutions in health care.
The Deputy Commissioner said the district will now have to come up with a sustainable building design model for sub centres for maternity rooms which is climate resilient and solar powered. He hoped that new maternal wards in remote sub centres will improve the health indicators and improve the institutional delivery in the district.
SELCO Foundation Director, Huda Jaffer said innovation in sustainable and energy efficient built environments will address issues like maternal and child mortality by building functional infrastructure that are designed for local and contextual needs.
