Have you or a loved one ever needed surgery? Imagine what your life would be like if you couldn’t have it. Billions of people around the world lack access to surgery because equipment and general anaesthesia are too expensive or unsuitable in their region.

When we think about technological progress people tend to picture faster, shinier, more hi-tech upgrades of what we already have. But sometimes developers can have more impact by remodelling technology with cheaper and simpler versions.

Our group at the University of Leeds is developing surgical technology for low-to-middle income countries and our first project was a simplified surgical tool for performing laparoscopic – or keyhole – surgery in low-resource settings where it was not possible before.

Surgical technology has never been more advanced. The NHS is adopting robotic surgical systems, which give surgeons new levels of precision and skill to perform complex procedures for prostate, gynaecology and bowel surgery.

But while these advances are impressive, they highlight a stark inequality; an estimated 5 billion people (more than two-thirds of the global population) cannot afford surgery. And yet, surgery is the primary treatment for one-third of diseases. Of the 313 million procedures undertaken worldwide each year, only 6% are performed in the poorest countries, where more than one-third of the world’s population lives.

Why surgery is so hard to access
A shortage of trained surgeons, healthcare costs and cultural barriers (many people turn to traditional healers first) prevent access, but all too often there is not enough appropriate surgical equipment available. By that we mean technology that fits the resources and services available in the local healthcare setting and does so at a cost affordable to local patients.

The shortage of technology designed for low-resource regions is because biotech firms focus on the major commercial markets in the EU, US and China and are reluctant to undercut more expensive, profitable technologies.

The solution is not as simple as providing low-income countries with the same surgical technology used in high-income countries.

Read more: https://theconversation.com/five-billion-people-cant-afford-surgery-a-team-of-innovators-could-soon-change-this-185081