Electricity Access and Health Behavior Before and During COVID-19 in Sierra Leone

This Energy Insight focuses on Sierra Leone, where just 2.5% of the rural population have access to electricity

From:
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office
Published
1 September 2021
Country:
Sierra Leone
Document Type:
Working Paper
Theme:
Infrastructure
Authors:
Meriggi,, N, Mobarak, A, M., Voors, M

Abstract

This Energy Insight focuses on Sierra Leone, where just 2.5% of the rural population have access to electricity. Sierra Leone recorded its first COVID-19 case on 30 March 2020, and has since seen a steady increase in cases. Using data on patient visits collected from health clinic registers, we see that, over time, reported health seeking increases, both in electrified and non-electrified clinics. In addition, the pre-COVID-19 utilization gap almost disappears for diverse types of visits. In all, the data suggests that electrification increases clinic quality and thus utilisation.

This research is part of the Energy and Economic Growth (EGG) Programme.

Citation

Niccoló Meriggi, A. Mushfiq Mobarak, Maarten Voors (2021) Electricity Access and Health Behavior Before and During COVID-19 in Sierra Leone. Energy and Economic Growth (EGG) Programme

Energy Insight “Electricity Access and Health Behavior Before and During COVID-19 in Sierra Leone

Published 1 September 2021
Contents