Project Launch: Sustainable Off-Grid Solutions for Pharmacies and Hospitals in Africa

Makerere University in partnership with 13 organizations across Europe and Africa won a project titled, “Sustainable Off-grid solutions for Pharmacies and Hospitals in Africa (SophiA)” to be funded by the European Union. This will be a 4-year project with activities in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Malawi and Uganda. This is a multi-disciplinary Project.  Dr. Nicholas Kiggundu from the Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) is the Team Leader.  Other team members include:  Dr. Sarah Bimbona from the Department of Marketing, College of Business and Management Sciences (CoBAMS) and Dr. Denis Muhangi from the Department of Social Work and Social Administration, College of Humanities and Social Sciences (CHUSS).

This is a very important project to Makerere University and the Health Facilities that will benefit from a SophiA system. The SophiA system includes access to off-grid carbon-neutral electricity, heating and cooling of food and medicines, storage of vaccines up to -70°C as well as access to safe and clean drinking water. On this project Makerere University will be leading the following work package (WP) objectives:

• To assess the needs from several health facilities in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Malawi and Uganda in order to identify and match in each country ONE most significant and suitable health facility in a rural remote region which can be served by a SophiA system on a pilot basis.
• To Investigate the environmental, economic, and social aspects to demonstrate the benefits of the SophiA solutions.

Launch: The project launch and stakeholder meeting is on Wednesday December 8, 2021 from 10:00 to 1:00pm.

Event venue: Senate Building, Tele-Presence Centre

Zoom link for registration for online attendance – https://bit.ly/3DpQ4Xi

Project Launch – Sustainable Off-Grid Solutions for Pharmacies and Hospitals in AfricaProject Launch – Sustainable Off-Grid Solutions for Pharmacies and Hospitals in Africa

SophiA Brief-1Makerere-SophiA-Research-Project-Launch-Programme-8thDec2021

Makerere-SophiA-Research-Project-Launch-Programme-8thDec2021