HSS3332 Global Perspectives on Health Technology_2024_REVISED

HSS3332 - Technology and Health

Program Overview

  • MSc Program in Interdisciplinary Health Sciences

    • Emphasizes the complexity of health research.

    • Importance of interdisciplinarity in addressing health and disease across the lifespan.

    • Resources can be found in the Brightspace folder.

Global Perspectives on Health Technology

  • Key Aspects:

    • Funding and infrastructure are critical for technology diffusion.

    • Contributions toward achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

    • Focus on Essential Health Technologies.

    • Aligned with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Inhibiting Forces for Health Care Technology

  • Significant Challenges:

    • Cost: High capital and operational costs affect provider organizations and payers.

    • Lack of Standards: Standards to measure technology effectiveness and cost benefit are missing.

    • Unequal Distribution: Disparities in technology access among patient populations.

    • Misuse and Overuse: Issues surrounding the correct application of medical technology.

Economic and Health Correlation

  • Insights by the World Economic Forum (2015):

    • Improved national health can lead to enhanced economic growth.

    • Technology facilitates health condition prevention, detection, and treatment.

    • Development of electronic health records and remote treatment in low-income settings.

    • Mentioned by Francis Collins, Director, NIH.

Millennium Development Goals Overview

  • UNDP Goals for 2015:

    1. Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger.

    2. Achieve Universal Primary Education.

    3. Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women.

    4. Reduce Child Mortality.

    5. Improve Maternal Health.

    6. Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Other Diseases.

    7. Ensure Environmental Sustainability.

    8. Global Partnership for Development.

Child Mortality Reduction (Goal 4)

  • Child mortality and measles vaccination coverage trends from 1990 to 2015:

    • A significant decline in child deaths globally.

Improve Maternal Health (Goal 5)

  • Trends in maternal mortality ratio and births with skilled healthcare personnel.

  • Statistics showing improvement over the years.

Combat Diseases (Goal 6)

  • Statistics on malaria incidence rates and global ART success in reducing AIDS mortality.

Essential Health Technologies

  • Definition: Developed to address specific health issues and improve life quality.

  • Essential Component of healthcare systems for disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.

  • Access to safe health technologies is supported by evidence-based policies.

Identified Essential Technologies:

  1. Blood Transfusion Safety

  2. Diagnostics and Laboratory Technology

  3. Diagnostic Imaging

  4. eHealth for Healthcare Delivery

  5. Emergency and Essential Surgical Care

  6. Injection Safety

  7. Medical Devices

  8. Transplantation

Blood Transfusion Safety

  • Objective: Ensure universal access to safe blood products.

  • Focus on quality-assured blood donation and transfusion processes.

Key Practices:

  1. Nationally coordinated blood transfusion services.

  2. Blood collection from voluntary non-remunerated donors.

  3. Comprehensive testing for transfusion-transmitted infections.

  4. Reduction of unnecessary transfusions through clinical guidelines.

  5. Implementation of robust quality systems in blood services.

WHO Guidelines for Blood Safety

  • Mandatory screening for HIV, hepatitis B/C, and other infections.

  • Emphasis on a quality management system for blood screening.

Current Status and Improvements in Blood Safety

  • Establishing international guidelines and training for blood safety protocols.

  • Approaches for better clinical use of transfusions to minimize the need.

  • Recognition of alternatives to traditional blood transfusions.

Diagnostics and Laboratory Technology

  • WHO's commitment to strengthening laboratory systems for disease management.

  • The Maputo Declaration aimed at harmonizing laboratory test standards.

WHO Diagnostics Program Goals:

  • Promote access to safe and effective diagnostics.

  • Emphasis on high-burden diseases in resource-limited settings.

In-Vitro Diagnostics Prequalification Process:

  1. Submission and review of pre-qualification forms.

  2. Dossier review to understand safety and performance metrics.

  3. On-site inspections to ensure manufacturing standards.

  4. Laboratory evaluations to assess operational characteristics.

Diagnostic Imaging Technologies

  • Importance of proper imaging in health assessment and treatment planning.

  • Preventive medicine benefits from accurate diagnostics.

eHealth for Healthcare Delivery

  • Objectives include:

    • Strengthening Member States’ health responses through eHealth tools.

    • Establishing safe, reliable eHealth applications.

    • Developing standards and guidelines for effective eHealth services.

The Future of eHealth Technology

  • Integration of eHealth technologies in healthcare systems is becoming prevalent.

  • Ongoing debates about resource allocation in health sectors in low-income countries.

Emergency and Essential Surgical Care

  • WHO's program focuses on providing life-saving surgical services in high-need areas.

  • Surgical care is essential for addressing numerous global health burdens.

Misconceptions Addressed:

  • Surgery can treat a significant portion of disease burden effectively.

  • Investment in surgical programs can yield significant health benefits.

Injection Safety

  • WHO estimates over 16 billion injections annually, with concerns around reused devices in developing areas.

  • Guidelines for ensuring the quality and safety of injection technologies.

Medical Devices and Their Role

  • Medical devices are critical for effective healthcare delivery.

  • The need for proper regulation and management of medical devices to improve health outcomes.

Current Emergent Technologies:

  • Examples of innovative devices aimed at enhancing healthcare in low-resource settings.