Conceptual Bases of a Quantitative Method for Assessing the Transferability of Medical Technologies Across the Rich-Poor Divide

In spite of the global advancements in science and technology, the disparity in the quality of life across the globe continues to increase, particularly so in terms of the access to cutting-edge medical technologies. Opportune transfer of technologies across the rich-poor divide lessens the global economic inequalities and fosters the sustainability of the global economy, but not all technologies are equally transferrable across this gap. Here, a method for quantifying the transferability of technologies has been postulated and preliminarily tested by considering twelve state-of-the-art medical technologies and three comparatively impoverished regions of the world: West Bengal in India, Xinjiang in China, and the former Yugoslav state of Montenegro. The results of the analysis demonstrate that neither the gross economic productivity of the region of interest nor its level of poverty can be the sole determinants of the transferability of technologies. Rather, a complex network of scientific, technological, infrastructural, socioeconomic, and cultural factors defines the extent of transferability of new technologies across the rich-poor divide. The proposed model helps to discern which of these factors represent the most critical hindrances in the transfer of technologies. It is argued that the most dependable technologies to transfer are old and proven ones, but the best ones for ameliorating the rich-poor divide are juvenile technologies in formative stages of their development, which also happen to be employing simplistic ingenuity and resourcefulness in their design. The analysis performed here makes it apparent that models for assessing the social value of technologies should inextricably tie the scientific factors with the socioeconomic and humanistic. Countless technical models of various natures could be devised with this holistic principle in mind.