Compendium of Innovative Health Technologies for Low-resource Settings: Assistive Devices eHealth Solutions Medical Devices [Mīkstie vāki]

One of the cornerstones of the Universal Health Coverage (UHC) initiative is access to essential medicines and health technologies. Medical devices, assistive devices and eHealth solutions are important components of health technology which have the potential to save lives and improve quality of life and well-being. However, too many people worldwide suffer because they don't have access to high quality, affordable health technology with the problem being more acute in low- and middle-income countries.

The objective of the compendium series of innovative medical devices, assistive devices and eHealth solutions is to provide a neutral platform for technologies which are likely to be suitable for use in less resourced settings. It presents a snapshot of several health technologies which might have the potential to improve health outcomes and the quality of life, or to offer a solution to an unmet medical/health technology need. It is released to acknowledge some success stories and at the same time, to raise awareness of the pressing need for appropriate and affordable design solutions and to encourage more innovative efforts in the field.

This effort also encourages greater interaction among ministries of health, procurement officers, donors, technology developers, manufacturers, clinicians, academics and the general public to ensure greater investment in health technology and to move towards universal access to essential health technologies.

All submissions to the "Call for innovative health technologies for low-resource settings" underwent an evaluation process; technologies were assessed by an expert panel based on the material and evidence provided by the applicant as well as publicly available information. In 2013, unlike previous years, inclusion in the Compendium for medical devices was restricted to commercialized products with regulatory approval. Note that for a selected technology, the inclusion in the compendium does not constitute a warranty for fitness of the technology for a particular purpose.

All innovative solutions in the compendium are presented in one page summarizing the health problem addressed, the proposed solution and product specifications, based on data, information, and images provided by the developers of the technologies concerned.