Improving energy resilience in Pakistan could avert 175,000 deaths by 2030, UNICEF says

By MUIR AHMED
Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A new study by the United Nations children’s agency says developing resilient energy systems to power health facilities in Pakistan could avert over 175,000 deaths by 2030. UNICEF says that improving energy resilience would also contribute $296 million to the country’s economy over the next 20 years by reducing maternal, adult and infant mortality. The study was released on Friday. It comes as Pakistan is experiencing an intense heatwave that has sickened thousands of people and further burdened the country’s fragile health care system. Temperatures in various parts of Pakistan soared as high as 49 degrees Celsius — about 120 degrees Fahrenheit — on Friday.