Too often, income and location determines access to medical care. People in underserved areas often die of conditions that would be treatable if they lived elsewhere. New technology is helping to bridge this gap in care.
Technology Helps Share Information
One of the biggest challenges in public health is the lack of information. Underserved populations don’t have access to accurate information about diseases and treatments, which is especially crucial during a pandemic. Doctors do not have access to up-to-date information that helps them make diagnoses.
Medical technology such as open-source software and Internet-based outreach programs help share vital information with underserved populations. Doctors have access to the latest developments in their field and can use technology to track patient data.
Technology Helps with Early Diagnosis
Early diagnosis is especially vital when it comes to treating complex diseases such as cancer. However, most impoverished people do not have access to regular medical care or imaging technologies. By the time that they have a diagnosis, it is too late to start treatment.
Medical technologies, such as imaging systems, help diagnose diseases early and improve the efficacy of treatments. Distributing technical equipment such as X-rays in underserved areas and training technicians can help improve survival rates. Nonprofits and aid organizations play a vital role in ensuring access to these technologies.
Medical Technology Improves Innovation
Technology has allowed doctors and engineers to build creative solutions to medical problems. They’ve found faster ways to share information, democratized access to treatment, and improved public health outreach. Technology is just one tool that people use to solve problems in the field of healthcare, but it is a powerful tool.
These innovations have the power to help global health as a whole. Even in wealthy countries such as the United States, there are disparities in healthcare access that technology can improve.
It is one of the world’s great injustices that people’s chances of survival when diagnosed with a disease are often affected by their income and where they live. Medical technology can help rectify this injustice.