Experts from 7 African countries discuss electrical safety

Experts from various African countries are working on the issue at a seminar opened Monday in Yaounde.

Guy Ngounou, PhD in energy and automation at the University Centre for research on energy for health (Cures) got chills when he recently experienced a heart breaking scene: "A sick child died before my eyes, after nurse tried in vain to find his vein to inject after a power failure in a hospital in Abong-Mbang where I made a working visit."

Electrical networks in most African countries suffer many of the problems that compromise the availability and the quality of the power supply, the cause of many failures and fires, damages in electrical appliances and sometimes it expose people to serious danger. This situation is particularly critical in hospitals and other health centres of Cameroon and Africa.

A study by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Bank showed indeed that more than 50% of the medical equipment in developing countries do not work.

In addition, up to 1/3 of the malfunctions of medical devices is caused by a faulty electrical network. The mismatch between electrical installations, electrical standards are discussed by experts, by way of explanation.

30 participants from seven African countries gathered since Monday at the École nationale supérieure polytechnique of Yaoundé led a discussion on the question of electrical safety. It is as part of a training seminar on the safety, the reliability and effectiveness of electrical systems in emerging countries.

And after the PR. Pierre Bola, Coordinator of Cures, they want to share know-how and thus encourage collaborations in principles of safety, reliability and efficiency related to the design and implementation of electrical systems in developing countries.