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MEDICAL SERVICES

A tie-up for the rural poor

Md Hasan
Fundamental healthcare services are the rights of every citizen of a nation. Unfortunately, in a country like Bangladesh, such rights are mere dreams of the lot and come as a reality for only those who can bear the price tag.
In the darkness shines a joint venture of local Grameen Healthcare Trust and the GE Healthcare Systems, a unit of General Electric. They joined hands to establish a social business healthcare delivery model for Bangladesh.
The idea stemmed from a righteous desire to reduce maternal mortality among the ultra poor, who cannot seek medical services due to a financial burden and the unavailability of services.
The two companies have embarked upon a venture to do something unique, in efforts to help women attain their rights, the decent and safe birth of their children.
"Our first pilot project will centre on diagnosing pregnant women with ultrasound technology." said Omar Ishrak, president and chief executive officer of GE Healthcare, in a recent interview withThe Daily Star.
The project will evaluate ways to improve Grameen Healthcare's service delivery systems and primary care clinics in rural Bangladesh.
GE Healthcare provides a broad range of products and services that include medical imaging and information technologies, medical diagnostics, patient monitoring systems, performance improvement solutions, drug discovery and biopharmaceutical manufacturing technologies.
The joint venture initiative is going to be tested in the rural areas first, where a majority of population lives, said Ishrak.
"Although we desire to help the rural community by all means possible, we realise some constraints. We cannot build hospitals, as it is not financially feasible," he lamented.
As such, GE Healthcare will provide the necessary equipment and Grameen clinics will provide the services.
"To make our technology far outreaching, and customised to the needs of the rural population, we will dwell on new technologies," said Ishrak. The technology that will be used will be mobile and easily transported to the remote and rural locations, places that have no formal routes.
“A coalesce of the right mix of our modern technology and
Grameen's clinics and doctors, will help prototype a customised solution, that can be later replicated to suit mass acceptance," he said.
Citing an example, he says the use of ultrasound imaging to test pregnant women can significantly reduce maternal mortality.
Potential complications with pregnancy can be successfully
treated, if detected at early stages Currently, the maternal mortality-rate for Bangladesh stands at 320 per 1,000 women.
"The ultrasound technology in use today in Bangladesh is baN dated. We believe we can upgrade the technology and rural areas will readily adopt it, ” he said.
Ishrak said technology would not be replicated from developed
nations; rather a right mix would be created to suit the requirements of rural mass.
In Bangladesh, the costs of health care services have skyrocketed. There is no question of whether the poor can afford the luxury
Ishrak knows for a fact that cheap services are associated with low quality and low expertise. But Grameen and GE want to find k equilibrium between the cost of services and the basic rights of individuals.
"We will make appropriate machines at affordable prices, to combat the pathetic rural scenario," he said.
Ishrak was upbeat over the tie-up of his company with Grameen.
Grameen boasts credibility in working with the community. Healthcare is about patience and about people. They can educate the community manifolds, he said.
"If we introduce the appropriate delivery of healthcare services, we can effectively form a junction between Grameen's clinics, as a learning lab or research and development centre," he adds.
Asked to comment on the venture, from a business perspective, he said money is secondary here. "We have the technology, resources and a desire."
"Putting these ingredients together is what our partnership is about. It's not about us doing something. It's about knowing what we have to do. ’
Presently, Grameen has 48 healthcare units across the country.
He said medical services have potential in Bangladesh and the sector has developed in recent times. However, the sector faces a dearth of doctors.
GE and Grameen Healthcare's joint venture gives delightful news to women as it plans to diversify in future.
Following maternity, we look forward to spread our wings to infant care at various places, step bv step. We have not embarked upon a short-term programme. We wish to achieve short-term milestones for long-term programmes," Ishrak said.
h asan@thed ailystar.net