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Responding to maternal, neonatal and child health equipment needs in Kenya: a model for an innovation ecosystem leveraging on collaborations and partnerships

BACKGROUND: Up to 70% of medical devices in low-income and middle-income countries are partially or completely non-functional, impairing service provision and patient outcomes. In Sub-Saharan Africa, medical devices not designed for local conditions, lack of well-trained biomedical engineers and div...

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Autores principales: Ayah, Richard, Ong'ech, John, Mbugua, Edwin Maina, Kosgei, Rose Chepchumba, Waller, Katie, Gathara, David
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: BMJ Publishing Group 2020
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7361008/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32685187
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjinnov-2019-000391
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author Ayah, Richard
Ong'ech, John
Mbugua, Edwin Maina
Kosgei, Rose Chepchumba
Waller, Katie
Gathara, David
author_facet Ayah, Richard
Ong'ech, John
Mbugua, Edwin Maina
Kosgei, Rose Chepchumba
Waller, Katie
Gathara, David
author_sort Ayah, Richard
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Up to 70% of medical devices in low-income and middle-income countries are partially or completely non-functional, impairing service provision and patient outcomes. In Sub-Saharan Africa, medical devices not designed for local conditions, lack of well-trained biomedical engineers and diverse donated equipment have led to poor maintenance and non-repair. The Maker Project’s aim was to test the effectiveness of an innovative partnership ecosystem network, the ‘Maker Hub’, in reducing gaps in the supply of essential medical devices for maternal, newborn and child health. This paper describes the first phase of the project, the building of the Maker Hub. METHODS: Key activities in setting up the Maker Hub—a collaborative partnership between the University of Nairobi (UoN) and the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), catalysed by Concern Worldwide Kenya—are described using a product development partnership approach. Using a health systems approach, a needs assessment identified a medical equipment shortlist. Design thinking with a capacity building component was used by the UoN (innovators, public health specialists, engineers) working closely and with KNH nurses, physicians and biomedical engineers to develop the prototypes. RESULTS: To date, four medical device prototypes have been developed. Two have been evaluated by the National Bureau of Standards and one has undergone clinical testing. CONCLUSIONS: We have demonstrated an innovative partnership ecosystem that has developed medical devices that have undergone national standards evaluation and clinical testing, a first in Sub-Saharan Africa. Promoting a robust innovation ecosystem for medical equipment requires investment in building trust in the innovation ecosystem.
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spelling pubmed-73610082020-07-16 Responding to maternal, neonatal and child health equipment needs in Kenya: a model for an innovation ecosystem leveraging on collaborations and partnerships Ayah, Richard Ong'ech, John Mbugua, Edwin Maina Kosgei, Rose Chepchumba Waller, Katie Gathara, David BMJ Innov Medical Devices BACKGROUND: Up to 70% of medical devices in low-income and middle-income countries are partially or completely non-functional, impairing service provision and patient outcomes. In Sub-Saharan Africa, medical devices not designed for local conditions, lack of well-trained biomedical engineers and diverse donated equipment have led to poor maintenance and non-repair. The Maker Project’s aim was to test the effectiveness of an innovative partnership ecosystem network, the ‘Maker Hub’, in reducing gaps in the supply of essential medical devices for maternal, newborn and child health. This paper describes the first phase of the project, the building of the Maker Hub. METHODS: Key activities in setting up the Maker Hub—a collaborative partnership between the University of Nairobi (UoN) and the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), catalysed by Concern Worldwide Kenya—are described using a product development partnership approach. Using a health systems approach, a needs assessment identified a medical equipment shortlist. Design thinking with a capacity building component was used by the UoN (innovators, public health specialists, engineers) working closely and with KNH nurses, physicians and biomedical engineers to develop the prototypes. RESULTS: To date, four medical device prototypes have been developed. Two have been evaluated by the National Bureau of Standards and one has undergone clinical testing. CONCLUSIONS: We have demonstrated an innovative partnership ecosystem that has developed medical devices that have undergone national standards evaluation and clinical testing, a first in Sub-Saharan Africa. Promoting a robust innovation ecosystem for medical equipment requires investment in building trust in the innovation ecosystem. BMJ Publishing Group 2020-07 2020-04-24 /pmc/articles/PMC7361008/ /pubmed/32685187 http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjinnov-2019-000391 Text en © Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2020. Re-use permitted under CC BY. Published by BMJ. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits others to copy, redistribute, remix, transform and build upon this work for any purpose, provided the original work is properly cited, a link to the licence is given, and indication of whether changes were made. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
spellingShingle Medical Devices
Ayah, Richard
Ong'ech, John
Mbugua, Edwin Maina
Kosgei, Rose Chepchumba
Waller, Katie
Gathara, David
Responding to maternal, neonatal and child health equipment needs in Kenya: a model for an innovation ecosystem leveraging on collaborations and partnerships
title Responding to maternal, neonatal and child health equipment needs in Kenya: a model for an innovation ecosystem leveraging on collaborations and partnerships
title_full Responding to maternal, neonatal and child health equipment needs in Kenya: a model for an innovation ecosystem leveraging on collaborations and partnerships
title_fullStr Responding to maternal, neonatal and child health equipment needs in Kenya: a model for an innovation ecosystem leveraging on collaborations and partnerships
title_full_unstemmed Responding to maternal, neonatal and child health equipment needs in Kenya: a model for an innovation ecosystem leveraging on collaborations and partnerships
title_short Responding to maternal, neonatal and child health equipment needs in Kenya: a model for an innovation ecosystem leveraging on collaborations and partnerships
title_sort responding to maternal, neonatal and child health equipment needs in kenya: a model for an innovation ecosystem leveraging on collaborations and partnerships
topic Medical Devices
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7361008/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/32685187
http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/bmjinnov-2019-000391
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