Frugal innovation offers lifesaving answers to daunting healthcare challenges
Economic growth has lifted millions of Indonesians out of poverty over recent years as the nation recovers from the Asian financial crisis. Despite a wide range of daunting medical challenges—from maternal mortality to malnutrition, malaria and a rising rate of degenerative diseases in the aging population—there’s now a new optimism that a healthier future is on the horizon, thanks the nation’s commitment to universal healthcare.
Old problems, fresh solutions: Indonesia’s new health regime, an Economist Intelligence Unit report sponsored by GE, released today, probes the challenges. Drawing on interviews with leading government, medical and academic experts in Indonesia, it explores how innovations in other developing countries could inspire solutions to some of Indonesia’s most urgent healthcare issues. Here’s a look at two examples of “frugal innovation” that holds great potential to help Indonesia save lives and enhance the health of its people:
*Telemedicine in Bangladesh. Famed microfinance lending pioneer, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, noticed that many of his customers in rural areas suffered from poor health due to a doctor shortage—and launched a telemedicine program, in which “mobile health entrepreneurs,” usually local women, charge a modest fee to go from house-to-house in villages, using health questionnaires and portable technology, such as handheld ultrasound devices, to monitor the health of their neighbors, then transmit the data to doctors in a central location for analysis and treatment guidance.
This approach could be valuable in Indonesia, where access to healthcare is very limited in rural areas, with an average of one doctor for every 16,792 residents (compared to one for every 2,763 residents in cities). As a result, people in rural areas have far worse health outcomes and extremely vulnerable to catastrophic healthcare costs if there’s a disease outbreak or natural disaster.
*Saving babies in Vietnam. In 2005, Vietnam was battling high infant mortality. Then East Meets West, a NGO dedicated to tackling tough challenges, came up with an innovative plan called Breath of Life (BOL). The #1 killer of newborns is respiratory problems—a particular threat to preemies—but the CPAP machines used to save lives in Western countries cost $4,500. BOL partnered with a local manufacturer to design a frugal machine for half that price, with tubes that can be sterilized and reused, eliminating the need for costly disposables. It also has special software to regulate the electrical supply, since frequent power outages in Vietnam often damage Western-made machines.
The new CPAP machines are now up and running in all of Vietnam’s national and provincial hospitals. Last year, they treated 40,000 babies, many of whom would have otherwise died or suffered brain damage. Such thrifty innovation could help make high tech care affordable for Indonesia, which will be boosting its health budget substantially in coming years—plus rolling out a new health plan that it hopes to extend to the entire population.
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The full report is online with detailed information on frugal innovation, Indonesia’s healthcare challenges and solutions from other developing countries.
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