Philips announces the Cairo to Cape Town Tour to improve Africa’s access to solar lighting and quality health care

Philips teams up with Dutch soccer legend Ruud Gullit and Right To Play Foundation to bring meaningful life- improving solutions to Africa.

Amsterdam, the Netherlands / Cairo, Egypt – Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI) announces the Cairo to Cape Town Tour: from late May to July 20, 2010 Philips will travel across Africa to raise awareness for the opportunities of new solar-powered LED lighting and best in class medical solutions to improve the quality of healthcare in Africa. An estimated 560 million Africans have no effective lighting at night and the demand for effective healthcare solutions that increase access to healthcare in Africa is growing rapidly.
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During this 2-month roadshow Philips will meet with relevant stakeholders in 15 countries to present and discuss its simple and effective lighting and healthcare solutions. “As the leading company in health and well-being, Philips plans to serve Africa’s growth potential in terms of partnerships for innovation, solution supply and knowledge sharing, bringing meaningful lighting and healthcare solutions to the African people,” said Gottfried Dutiné, Executive Vice-President and Global Head of Markets & Innovation.
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Family fun in the evening due to solar lighting

Solar lighting solutions
In Africa, it goes dark all year round at about 6.30-7.00 pm and this darkness holds countries back socially and economically. Philips believes that access to sustainable solar lighting has the potential to strengthen Africa’s economic, social, educational and cultural activities in a life-changing way.

Solar lighting has the advantage it doesn’t require electricity and thus saves energy and costs. Philips has developed different solar lighting solutions to help Africans extend the day, including a small LED reading light that offers children the chance to do school homework at night or for adults to more easily follow evening classes. These lights are affordable and offer the potential for a major boost in literacy across the continent.

Philips also developed the world’s first solar-powered LED football floodlighting solution that enables people with little or no access to electricity to enjoy playing or watching sport long into the night and at the same time increases the safety outdoors. “It is amazing what solar lighting can change for the lives of the people living in these areas. It can strengthen Africa in many transformational ways. It is important that the African people have access to simple and sustainable solutions to build the future,” says Dutch soccer legend Ruud Gullit.

Philips also partners up with The Right To Play foundation, which aims to improve the lives of children in some of the most disadvantaged areas of the world with sport and play. Matthijs Huizing, director of Right To Play Netherlands: “We are pleased to join forces in communicating the power of sport and play for development, health and peace, strengthened by the new opportunities that solar LED lighting offers.”

Child doing homework using Philips LED solar reading light

Demand for new healthcare solutions growing fast
Nowadays, Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for 11 percent of the world’s population, yet bears 24 percent of the global disease burden and commands less than 1 percent of global health expenditures. The average life expectancy in sub-Saharan Africa has remained at roughly 50 years since 2002.

Philips points out that there are signs of improvement: the quality of hospitals and medical staff increased significantly in the last years and many healthcare projects have accelerated the transformation to modern and well-structured healthcare systems in Africa. “At Philips, we applaud the fact that governments, public and private hospital sectors increasingly dedicate energy towards making healthcare more accessible and affordable, says JJ van Dongen, General Manager, Philips Healthcare Africa. “Demand for new healthcare solutions is growing fast. Our mission is to improve the quality of healthcare in Africa through access to education, sharing of best practices and improved collaboration between public and private stakeholders”.

Video:

Philips presents “Extending the Day” with Ruud Gullit from Philips Africa Roadshow 2010 on Vimeo.

The Philips Cairo to Cape Town Roadshow visits the training centre of Lornah Kiplagat from Philips Africa Roadshow 2010 on Vimeo.