@article{0637064adc754a70a71cd14399839f0d,
title = "Improving health-care delivery in low-resource settings with nanotechnology: Challenges in multiple dimensions",
abstract = "In the two decades after 1990, the rates of child and maternal mortality dropped by over 40% and 47%, respectively. Despite these improvements, which are in part due to increased access to medical technologies, profound health disparities exist. In 2015, a child born in a developing region is nearly eight times as likely to die before the age of 5 than one born in a developed region and developing regions accounted for nearly 99% of the maternal deaths. Recent developments in nanotechnology, however, have great potential to ameliorate these and other health disparities by providing new costeffective solutions for diagnosis or treatment of a variety of medical conditions. Affordability is only one of the several challenges that will need to be met to translate new ideas into a medical product that addresses a global health need. This article aims to describe some of the other challenges that will be faced by nanotechnologists who seek to make an impact in low-resource settings across the globe.",
keywords = "Commercialization, Global health, Low-resource settings, Medical device design, Nanotechnology, Partnerships, Task shifting, Technology transfer",
author = "James Abbas and Barbara Smith and Mladen Poluta and Adriana Velazquez-Berumen",
note = "Funding Information: For technology developers seeking to address critical global health issues, these international initiatives and commitments can help to define R&D targets, provide a frame-work and opportunities for collaboration, and offer a strong justification for financial support in proposals for grants or investment. Funding Information: In the specific realm of medical technology, several partnerships have been established to address the shortages in biomedical and clinical engineers, as well as BMETs. One program, which is supported by the Fogarty International Centre, is directed at “Developing Innovative Interdisciplinary Biomedical Engineering Programs in Africa.” This program provides training for biomedical engineers and other medical and business professionals through a partnership that involves Northwestern University (USA), the University of Cape Town (South Africa), the University of Ibadan and Lagos University (Nigeria), the University of Bamako (Mali), and the University of Nairobi (Kenya). To train BMETs, Engineering World Health, a US-based not-for-profit organization, has partnered with Duke University (USA) and several hospitals in Rwanda, Cambodia, Honduras, Ghana, and Nigeria. A unique aspect of this extensive program is that it includes a for-profit company, General Electric, which provides financial support for the training program. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2017.",
year = "2017",
month = jan,
day = "1",
doi = "10.1177/1849543517701158",
language = "English (US)",
volume = "4",
journal = "Nanobiomedicine",
issn = "1849-5435",
publisher = "SAGE Publications Ltd",
}