Healthcare Access through Technology in Developing Countries
On Wednesday, The Global Health Council, Management Sciences for Health and PATH co-hosted an event on the topic of “Reaching Women and Children with Innovative Technologies.” Moderated by PATH’s Catharine Taylor, the program’s panelists included Paul LaBarre from PATH, Dr. Edmund Rutta of Management Sciences for Health, Allen Wilcox of VillageReach, and Dr. Lily Kak from USAID, who discussed the benefits of and obstacles to providing cost effective and culturally-appropriate maternal and child healthcare through technology. One of the primary obstacles discussed was the lack of access to remote rural places most in need of healthcare facilities and services.
To reinforce the importance of this issue, Congressman Albio Sires (D-NJ) and Congressman Brian Baird (D-WA), cosponsors of H.R. 3560, the “21st Century Global Health Technologies Act,” shared personal accounts that illustrated the need to leverage technology to improve maternal and child healthcare in developing countries. Their bill, H.R. 3560, would amend the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961 to establish a program within USAID which would focus specifically on researching and developing technologies to improve global health. By applying American ingenuity and technology, we can not only help save lives in remote places around the world, but also promote economic development and stability.