Access to medical technologies for NCD prevention and control

Abstract

Medical technologies or devices are essential for preventing, diagnosing, monitoring and treating NCDs. Medical technologies include instruments, apparatus, machines, implants, reagents and software, and they range from relatively basic equipment, such as stethoscopes, glucometers and devices to measure blood pressure, to highly advanced technologies used for example for radio- or immuno-therapy, implantable devices such as coronary stents, genetic testing, genetic manipulation of living tissues, robotic surgery and remote patient management. The rapid advancement of technologies and medical devices means that there are now over two million different kinds of medical devices in the world. This chapter describes issues around public health, intellectual property and trade, highlighting that access to, and availability of, medical technologies and devices require collaboration across health policy, intellectual property and trade, with action from policy-makers as well as lawmakers, government officials, researchers, international organizations and NGOs. Issues around procurement, affordability, pooled procurement, training and technology, acceptability, maintenance and decommissioning are explored. The chapter highlights the importance of innovation and concludes with a description of a set of characteristics developed for assessing diagnostic and monitoring tools for NCDs in primary care.