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High systolic blood pressure (BP) is the single leading modifiable risk factor for death worldwide. Accurate BP measurement is the cornerstone for screening, diagnosis, and management of hypertension. Inaccurate BP measurement is a leading patient safety challenge. A recent World Health Organization report has outlined the technical specifications for automated noninvasive clinical BP measurement with cuff. The report is applicable to ambulatory, home, and office devices used for clinical purposes. The report recommends that for routine clinical purposes, (1) automated devices be used, (2) an upper arm cuff be used, and (3) that only automated devices that have passed accepted international accuracy standards (eg, the International Organization for Standardization 81060-2; 2018 protocol) be used. Accurate measurement also depends on standardized patient preparation and measurement technique and a quiet, comfortable setting. The World Health Organization report provides steps for governments, manufacturers, health care providers, and their organizations that need to be taken to implement the report recommendations and to ensure accurate BP measurement for clinical purposes. Although, health and scientific organizations have had similar recommendations for many years, the World Health Organization as the leading governmental health organization globally provides a potentially synergistic nongovernment government opportunity to enhance the accuracy of clinical BP assessment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose of the Study: To identify policy gaps in the delivery and availability of assistive health technology (AHT) and medical devices (MD) for aging populations, particularly in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Design and Methods: The findings presented in this paper are the results of several narrative overviews. They provide a contextual analysis of the conclusions and evidence from WHO commissioned research and expert consultations in 2013 and 2014, as well as a synthesis of literature reviews conducted on AHT and MD. Results: Practical, life-enhancing support for older people through AHT, MD, and related health and social services is a neglected issue. This is particularly so in LMICs where the biggest increases in aging populations are occurring, and yet where there is commonly little or no access to these vital components of healthy aging. Implications: Health technologies, especially medical and assistive health technology, are essential to ensure older people’s dignity and autonomy, but their current and potential benefits have received little recognition in LMICs. Viewing these technologies as relevant only to disabled people is an inadequate approach. They should be accessible to both older adults with disabilities and older adults with functional limitation. Many countries need much greater official awareness of older adults' needs and preferences. Such attitudinal changes should then be reflected in laws and regulations to address the specificities of care for older people. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem During the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, medical oxygen therapy was urgently needed for patients with hypoxaemia. Many low- and middle-income countries lacked the medical devices for oxygen therapy and experience in their use. Approach In addition to providing medical devices for oxygen therapy for countries in need, the World Health Organization (WHO) and partners developed training videos to help local health workers select, use and maintain this equipment. Diverse health professionals, including engineers and clinicians from resource-constrained countries, collaborated in developing draft videos in their local settings. A production team refined these drafts and delivered the training videos through the platform OpenWHO. Local setting OpenWHO is WHO's free open-access platform providing courses for health workers and others. The courses, based on WHO's scientific and operational guidance, can be easily adapted, contextualized and translated. Relevant changes The production team refined the drafts into 32 training videos. More than 17 505 health workers participated in the OpenWHO course on COVID-19 respiratory equipment between 28 February 2022 and 30 November 2023. Participants were from 189 countries and 38% (6027/16 047) were from low- and lower-middle-income countries. Lessons learnt Involving volunteer biomedical engineers and clinicians from low- and middle-income countries helped provide an appropriate training resource. WHO should continue to develop such training tools and offer them through OpenWHO, especially for emergencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pandemic influenza poses a serious threat to populations in low and lower-middle income countries that face delays in access to health care and inadequately equipped facilities. Oxygen is first-line therapy for influenza-related hypoxia and a standard component of emergency respiratory resuscitation, yet remains a scarce resource in many countries. Methodology: A snapshot survey of oxygen supply and associated infrastructure was performed at 231 health centres and hospitals in twelve African countries using the World Health Organization (WHO) Tool for Situational Analysis to Assess Emergency and Essential Surgical Care. WHO Global Initiative for Emergency and Essential Surgical Care, WHO regional and country offices, and local Ministries of Health facilitated data collection from facilities surveyed. Data was stored in the WHO DataCol SQL database and computerized spreadsheet tools were used to generate descriptive statistics. Results: Ninety-nine (43.8%) of facilities surveyed reported uninterrupted access to an oxygen source and 55 (24.6%) possessed a fully functioning oxygen concentrator. Electricity was fully available at only 81 (35.1%) health facilities. Conclusions: In addition to efforts to secure vaccines and antivirals, future global influenza preparedness efforts should include investments in oxygen and associated equipment and infrastructure at first referral health facilities, to minimize morbidity and mortality from influenza in regions with limited medical resources. Increasing oxygen delivery capacity in these areas may also provide long-term, post-pandemic benefits in the management of other medical conditions of significance, including trauma, neonatal pulmonary hypofunction, and HIV-related and childhood pneumonia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the two decades after 1990, the rates of child and maternal mortality dropped by over 40% and 47%, respectively. Despite these improvements, which are in part due to increased access to medical technologies, profound health disparities exist. In 2015, a child born in a developing region is nearly eight times as likely to die before the age of 5 than one born in a developed region and developing regions accounted for nearly 99% of the maternal deaths. Recent developments in nanotechnology, however, have great potential to ameliorate these and other health disparities by providing new cost-effective solutions for diagnosis or treatment of a variety of medical conditions. Affordability is only one of the several challenges that will need to be met to translate new ideas into a medical product that addresses a global health need. This article aims to describe some of the other challenges that will be faced by nanotechnologists who seek to make an impact in low-resource settings across the globe., Competing Interests: Declaration of Conflicting Interests: The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

As of 2015, it was estimated that 400 million people lacked access to essential health services The Universal Health Coverage (UHC). Initiative aims to address this issue by delivering quality health service to people around the world whilst minimizing costs. Access to affordable medical technology is a cornerstone to this initiative. Consequently, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has developed the 'Compendium of Innovative Technologies for Low-Resource Settings' in order to highlight 127 innovations that could help to address these health issues. In low resource settings, the lack of reliable infrastructure can limit the success of medical devices, but it is clear that technology developed specifically for these settings, could have a more sustained impact. The 'Feasibility Tool' was designed by the WHOR to quantitatively analyse whether a medical device could be successfully implemented in a particular setting. The WHO has taken steps towards establishing criteria to encourage medical device innovation for appropriate and affordable technologies and local production of basic products, when feasible, in low resource settings. It is evident that encouraging this paradigms shift in our perception of medical technology development and manufacture will benefit healthcare systems around the world.