This is an interesting summary from the Lancet about the impact of high tech medical equipment exported to the third world. Makes you think. An astounding 40% of medical equipment in the developing world is broken compared to 1% in the developed world. Well-intentioned equipment from first world donors accounts in part for this.
Instead of high-end tech, the study suggests that “frugal technologies” like a rural ambulance made of a motorbike and stretcher sidecar are better bets. The report also points to improvements in sanitation and roads as a ways to positively impact health.
I feel pretty good about the frugality of clean birth kits. Low tech, focus on hygiene through education. And they don’t break.
Here’s the whole article:
Technologies for Global Health
Published August 1, 2012
Collaboration between The Lancet and Imperial College London, UK, has resulted in a new Commission, which examines how medical technology should best be used to improve health in low- and middle-income countries. The report concludes that in many cases, medical technology—almost exclusively developed in rich countries—is simply inappropriate for use in poorer nations.
Executive summary
According to hospital inventories, an estimated 40% of healthcare equipment in developing countries is out of service, compared with less than 1% in high-income countries. The inappropriate deployment of medical technologies from wealthy countries plays a major part in this high failure rate.
Instead of relying on hand-me-down technologies from wealthier countries, which can be costly, inappropriate for local conditions, and even dangerous, the authors urge a renewed effort towards developing what they call “frugal technologies”—cost-effective technologies that are developed specifically to cope in local conditions. Examples of frugal technologies which have been developed to meet local needs include: the Jaipur foot, a rubber prosthetic for people who have lost their leg and foot below the knee; PATH’s Uniject injection system, which allows once-only use of needles for injectable contraceptives; and the eRanger, a durable rural ambulance, based around a motorbike and stretcher sidecar (which can be modified to carry one or two people).
The report also advocates a wider understanding of what we mean by medical technologies, pointing out that technological improvement to sanitation and road conditions could also have a far-reaching impact on public health in many low- and middle-income countries. Furthermore, the authors argue that advances in technology need to be accompanied by innovation to have a significant effect on health—this includes the development of effective delivery mechanisms and novel approaches to financing.
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