The Challenge
My greatest challenge has been to change the mindset of people. Mindsets play strange tricks on us. We see things the way our minds have instructed our eyes to see.
—Muhammad Yunus, Nobel Peace Prize winner
In the developing world, musculoskeletal disease often goes untreated due to a lack of infrastructure, a dearth of personnel and the need for critical equipment. While many organizations have established mission trips to teach native practitioners and provide direct surgical care in developing countries, the equipment used on these missions is often current generation, non-surplus inventory brought over by the visiting surgeon. In fact, the surgeon is often responsible for personally securing the donation from their manufacturer's representative. And because that equipment is still highly valuable in the developed countries, the mission surgeon typically brings back any unused materials.
Increased availability of equipment at qualified surgical sites can improve musculoskeletal care and address surgically treatable disabilities that hamper the lives of millions of people.
From the supply chain side, medical device designs evolve so quickly that oftentimes next-generation devices are available before supplies of first-generation products have been exhausted. As a result, companies end up with products they can't use and which must be discarded or disassembled, including obsolete first-generation designs, odd-sized implants, hospital returns, and overages due to miscalculated forecasting.
Since much of this inventory is warehoused for an extended period (if it's not lost or stolen), it can represent a significant financial loss, both in terms of wasted storage space and a growing tax burden.
That's where we come in.
The fact is that in some countries, first-generation devices are far ahead of the curve. Implants that are outdated and obsolete in developed countries are still a practical and useful resource in the developing world. These implants can dramatically improve the lives of those who don't have access to the late-generation products.