However, those nations which remain most off the grid, are set to enter 2030 without meeting this goal unless efforts are significantly scaled up, warns the new study entitled Tracking SDG 7: The Energy Progress Report, published by the International Energy Agency (IAE), International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA), World Bank, and World Health Organization (WHO). 

“Moving towards scaling up clean and sustainable energy is key to protect human health and to promote healthier populations, particularly in remote and rural areas”, said Maria Neira, WHO Director of the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Health.  

COVID setbacks 

The report outlines significant but unequal progress on SDG7, noting that while more than one billion people globally gained access to electricity over the last decade, COVID’s financial impact so far, has made basic electricity services unaffordable for 30 million others, mostly in Africa.  

“The Tracking SDG7 report shows that 90 per cent of the global population now has access to electricity, but disparities exacerbated by the pandemic, if left unaddressed, may keep the sustainable energy goal out of reach, jeopardizing other SDGs and the Paris Agreement’s objectives”, said Mari Pangestu, Managing Director of Development Policy and Partnerships at the World Bank. 

While the report also finds that the COVID-19 pandemic has reversed some progress, Stefan Schweinfest, DESA’s Director of the Statistics Division, pointed out that this has presented “opportunities to integrate SDG 7-related policies in recovery packages and thus to scale up sustainable development”. 

Modernizing renewables 

The publication examines ways to bridge gaps to reach SDG7, chief among them the scaling up of renewables, which have proven more resilient than other parts of the energy sector during the COVID-19 crisis. 

While sub-Saharan Africa has the largest share of renewable sources in its energy supply, they are far from “clean” – 85 per cent use biomass, such as burning wood, crops and manure. 

“On a global path to achieving net-zero emissions by 2050, we can reach key sustainable energy targets by 2030 as we expand renewables in all sectors and increase energy efficiency”, said IAE Executive Director, Fatih Birol.  

And although the private sector continues to source clean energy investments, the public sector remains a major financing source, central in leveraging private capital, particularly in developing countries and in a post-COVID context. 

Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which has dramatically increased investors’ risk perception and shifting priorities in developing countries, international financial flows in public investment terms, are more critical than ever to leverage the investment levels needed to reach SDG 7, according to the report.   

“Greater efforts to mobilize and scale up investment are essential to ensure that energy access progress continues in developing economies”, he added.  

Scaling up clean and sustainable energy is key to protect human health — WHO’s Maria Neira

Other key targets 

The report highlighted other crucial actions needed on clean cooking, energy efficiency and international financial flows. 

A healthy and green recovery from COVID-19 includes the importance of ensuring a quick transition to clean and sustainable energy”, said Dr. Neira. 

Feeding into autumn summit 

This seventh edition of the report formerly known as the Global Tracking Framework comes at a crucial time as Governments and others are gearing up for the UN High-level Dialogue on Energy in September 2021 aimed to examine what is needed to achieve SDG7 by 2030 and mobilize voluntary commitments and actions through Energy Compacts.  

The report will inform the summit-level meeting on the current progress towards SDG 7, “four decades after the last high-level event dedicated to energy under the auspices of UN General Assembly”, said Mr. Schweinfest. 

Dr. Aylward, who is also Senior Advisor to the WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, noted that of those two billion doses, “over 75 per cent” had gone to just 10 countries, notably China, the US and India.

This trio “account for about 60 per cent of those doses”, said Dr Aylward, speaking via Zoom, adding that “at the other end of that spectrum” only about “point five per cent of doses” had reached the lowest income countries, which account for about 10 per cent of world population.

‘Two track recovery’

This had led increasingly to “a two-track recovery”, characterised by the successful rollout of vaccines to high-risk populations and even younger populations in higher income and vaccine-producing countries.

By contrast, “in the lower income countries, they’re still struggling to get sufficient product just to be able to vaccinate the health care workers, older populations, who are really the key to getting out of the health, societal and economic crisis that we’re in the midst of”, Dr. Aylward explained, in an urgent appeal for 250 million doses to protect frontline workers and the most vulnerable people.

“The call is for a quarter of a billion doses through the period through end of September, to be donated, at least 100 million of those in June and July – that’s what we need to get the system going.”

80 million doses from the US

He noted that on Thursday the United States had helped to kickstart the appeal and bolster the UN-partnered equitable vaccine distribution scheme COVAX with the announcement that it intended to donate up to 80 million doses, including an initial 25 million shots, this month. “That’s an important start (but) we need many other countries to be joining and important for the US, crucially, is they said these doses are going to come in June.”

It was “absolutely ridiculous” that some countries were still unable to protect their key workers amid “escalating epidemics” even though vaccines had been available for six months, he said.

Briefing reporters in New York on Friday, the UN Spokesperson Stéphane Dujarric welcomed the announcement made by the Biden administration that it will be sharing millions of vaccine doses with both the COVAX facility as well as bilaterally with countries in particular need.

He said Secretary-General António Guterres was extremely grateful to the US Government for the inclusion of UN personnel and Member States delegates serving in the US, in its national vaccination programme, “and for the generous offer to provide vaccines for United Nations frontline personnel serving in the most challenging and dangerous locations around the world.”

“The Secretary-General renews his call to the international community to come together to address the unprecedented challenge of this pandemic, and for countries to share vaccines, particularly with those that are struggling to cope with new surges and variants” he added.

Funding gap

Highlighting the progress made against the coronavirus compared with a year ago, veteran emergency health expert Dr. Aylward, insisted that the development and increasing number of COVID-19 vaccines should not distract from the continued need by all countries to test,  trace and treat their populations.

People will continue to die unless a $16 billion funding gap is filled to pay for sufficient personal protective equipment, ventilators, oxygen and steroid medication to help the poorest nations treat their sick, Dr Aylward insisted.

“We still do not understand well enough this pandemic, because we are not enough testing enough”, he said.

“Remember, Tedros talked about ‘test, test, test’ literally months and months and months ago…we’ve made highly accurate, highly affordable rapid diagnostic tests, but with the fixation on vaccines, we’re not getting the money (needed) over there. And we’ve all seen what happens when this disease hits a country that doesn’t have the oxygen and dexamethasone.” 

Globally, as of 4 June 2021, there have been 171,708,011 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 3,697,151 reported deaths, according to WHO.

“The threat of a third wave in Africa is real and rising”, said Dr Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. “Our priority is clear – it’s crucial that we swiftly get vaccines into the arms of Africans at high risk of falling seriously ill and dying of COVID-19.”

20% uptick in cases

As the continent struggles with vaccine shortages, the care of critically ill COVID-19 patients has lagged behind other parts of the world. While Africa has 2.9 per cent of cases globally, it accounts for 3.7 per cent of deaths.

Weak observance of preventive measures likely contributed to the crisis, along with increased population movement and interaction, and the arrival of winter in southern Africa.

In the last two weeks, the continent has recorded a 20 per cent increase in coronavirus infections, compared to the previous fortnight. “The pandemic is trending upwards in 14 countries and in the past week alone (and) eight countries witnessed an abrupt rise of over 30 per cent in cases,” WHO said in a statement.

Intensive care filling up

South Africa has seen “a sustained increase in cases”, while Uganda reported a 131 per cent week-on-week rise last week “with infection clusters in schools, rising cases among health workers and isolation centres and intensive care units filling up”.

Angola and Namibia have also witnessed a resurgence in cases, WHO said, noting that 48.6 million doses have been received in Africa and 31.4 million doses have been administered in 50 countries on the continent.

Poor treatment

Only around two per cent of the population has received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, compared with the 24 per cent global figure.

“While many countries outside Africa have now vaccinated their high-priority groups and are able to even consider vaccinating their children, African countries are unable to even follow up with second doses for high-risk groups,” said Dr. Moeti. “I’m urging countries that have reached a significant vaccination coverage to release doses and keep the most vulnerable Africans out of critical care.”

Globally, as of 3 June 2021, there have been 171,222,477 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 3,686,142 deaths, reported to WHO. As of 2 June, a total of 1,581,509,628 vaccine doses have been administered.

Swelling numbers 

Although Asia-Pacific countries host the vast majority of more than 80 million forcibly displaced people around the globe, they have benefited from only a fraction of the world’s COVID-19 innoculations, according to the agency. 

Concern over the situation in the region continues to rise as the number of cases has surged to the largest increase globally.  

UNHCR stressed that the pandemic will only be defeated when vaccinations are available everywhere “on an equitable basis”. 

Struggling with surges 

Over this period, some 38 million COVID-19 cases have been recorded along with more than half a million deaths, devastating many already fragile health systems in the region.  

“The lack of hospital beds, oxygen supplies, limited intensive care unit (ICU) capacities and scarce health facilities and services have worsened outcomes for those infected with COVID-19, particularly in India and Nepal”, said Mr. Mahecic. 

Moreover, the highly infectious variant of the virus which first emerged in India “threatens to rapidly spread in the sub-region”, including among refugee populations, he added. 

Particularly vulnerable 

Amidst overcrowded settings, limited water and inadequate sanitation facilities, refugees remain especially at risk of COVID-19. 

In Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, where almost 900,000 Rohingya refugees are living in the single largest and most densely populated cluster of refugee camps in the world, the number of cases has jumped considerably in the last two months, UNHCR emphasized.  

“As of 31 May, there have been over 1,188 cases confirmed among the refugee population, with more than half of these cases recorded in May alone”, the agency’s spokesperson told journalists. 

“We have also seen a worrying increase in the number of COVID-19 cases among refugees and asylum-seekers in Nepal, Iran, Pakistan, Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia”, he said.  

Shots on the move 

While efforts are underway to mitigate the spread of the coronavirus, preventive measures must be complemented with intensified vaccinations. 

Although some refugees, including in Nepal, have received their first jab with COVAX-provided supplies, not a single vaccine has been administered to Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh. 

The scarcity of supplies in the country means that some of the world’s most vulnerable people remain susceptible to the virus. 

“UNHCR is adding its voice to the calls for countries with surplus doses to donate to COVAX, and for manufacturers to boost supplies to the COVAX facility”, said Mr. Mahecic. 

Included in its regular budget, UNHCR’s total financial requirements for COVID include $455 million in supplementary needs and $469 million in COVID-related activities.  

To date, including projected contributions, UNHCR has received $252.8 million or only 27 per cent of these requirements.

“When a woman has lost a lot of blood during childbirth and may need to be transferred to a bigger medical facility, she first needs to be stabilized where she is before being driven out of that place. Timely delivery of blood can be lifesaving. A drone can be sent to deliver the blood so that the patient is stabilized,” says Lorato Mokganya, Chief Health Officer in the Ministry of Health and Wellness. 

In an effort to curb the country’s preventable maternal deaths and overcome geographical barriers this innovative initiative will revolutionize the delivery of essential medical supplies and services across Botswana.   

“Timeliness in attending to women who experience pregnancy and childbirth-related complications is paramount, especially in remote and hard-to-reach areas,” says Dimane Mpoeleng, Computer Science Lecturer at the Botswana International University of Science and Technology (BIUST). 

The leading causes of maternal deaths in Botswana are excessive bleeding, complications after abortion and hypertensive disorders during pregnancy.  

However, the last-mile delivery of lifesaving medical products and supplies can be challenging in this large and sparsely populated country with long distances between lower and higher-level facilities. This is heightened in hard-to-reach places where there may be a shortage of vehicles, inaccessible roads, and inefficient supply chain systems.   

Drones for Health 

In May, the university, the government and the  United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) joined forces to launch Botswana’s first drone delivery project, called “Drones For Health. With this initiative, Botswana also became the first country in southern Africa and third on the African continent, after Ghana and Rwanda, to pilot drone technology for health care support. 

Drones are expected to drastically reduce the delivery time from hours to minutes, improving the delivery of obstetric emergency supplies and thus saving more lives. 

Beatrice Mutali, UNFPA Botswana Country Director, believes the project is a game-changer, which will not only improve the maternal health situation in Botswana, but also transform the entire health system for the country. 

“At UNFPA, we envision a world where no woman dies while giving a life, and this initiative promises to alleviate the problem of maternal deaths in Botswana,” Ms. Mutali says, stressing that innovation is an indispensable engine to bring transformative change for women, girls, and young people.  

For example, women at rural facilities such as Mogapi Health Centre, which serves a population of over 3,000, will benefit immensely from the speed and efficiency that the newly launched drone technology will bring to the health sector.  

According to Dr. Mpoeleng, the project leader of Drones For Health, each battery-powered flying aerodrone has a delivery distance of 100 kilometers and can carry up to 2 kilogrammes of cargo.  

Four villages were chosen for the pilot project. The drones will be automatically programmed for takeoff and landing and can carry back another load of supplies. Community members in the pilot areas supported the project by building all drone landing pads at the designated health posts. 

In 2017, Botswana set a national maternal mortality ratio target of 71 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2025 reducing to 54 deaths by 2030 in order to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3. If the current maternal death trend continues, Botswana is likely not to meet the SDG target. 

Speaking at the launch, the Minister of Health and Wellness, Dr. Edwin Gorataone Dikoloti said, “The need to invest in innovative options to bridge the long distances, reduce current transportation costs, overcome road infrastructure challenges, and improve timely availability of essential emergency obstetric care drugs, commodities and supplies is therefore urgent.” 

A 2017 report on maternal mortality rate shows that a significant proportion of maternal deaths in Botswana are preventable.  

“Now more than ever, innovation is critical to achieving the ‘leaving no one behind’ goal. And with innovation come powerful partnerships, hence our work with the university and ministries. We believe that today’s problems and changing context call for harnessing innovations that can provide breakthrough solutions that deliver sexual and reproductive health for all,” UNFPA’s Country Director says.