Mike Raxworthy

Context

Medical equipment in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) often goes out of action because of a lack of maintenance and repair capacity.

Machines and devices that could be fixed are left broken without easy, affordable access to suitably trained engineers.

In almost all cases, this equipment is not specifically designed for SSA healthcare but is imported from Europe, China, US and Japan.

There is a lack of opportunities for SSA biomedical engineers and students to develop their own innovative solutions to healthcare problems in their regions.

There has also been a tendency for the biomedical engineering curriculum and training in SSA to be designed and based on that of western countries without being tailored to the local context, needs and barriers.

Work in Africa

In order to understand how African countries can be supported to produce and develop their own medical devices, fieldwork has been undertaken in Uganda, Ghana, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania to investigate the pathways to medical device approval, current opportunities and challenges.

Working with the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Worldwide Universities Network and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), workshops have been designed and delivered on early stage innovation and translation of appropriate technology to the market.

Resources

• Major report: Biomedical Engineering as a Driver for Healthcare Improvements in East Africa
• Current project: The design and development of appropriate MedTech products for in-country use: a regional comparison of West and East Africa