Permanent Healthcare for the Rural Poor
I’m Nicolas Laing, A doctor co-ordinating 10 village health centers in Northern Uganda. We strive to deliver the best quality health care, for some of the poorest people on earth.
My passion is sustainable healthcare solutions for the worlds poorest. NGO funded ‘projects’, ‘outreaches’ and ‘family health days’ need to make way for everyday, permanent solutions. I believe that poor rural communities can save money on transport and medical fees, by supporting their own high quality, permanent, health centers deep in the village. These centers need to be ahead of the game by embracing cheap, effective technology. LED otoscopes, portable hemoglobin machines, and rapid diagnostic tests need to be the norm. Data needs to move from paper to the cloud. Let’s join with communities to shift rural health care from top down to ground up. From dependency to responsibility. From temporary to permanent.
But I’m still just one of thousands of people struggling for universal healthcare in their corner of the world. As many grass roots health providers know, when we’ve got a narrow focus on delivering healthcare in our home ground, the ‘Ostrich effect’ can take over. We spend our lives focused on practical solutions which make a difference for our patients today, which means we miss new ideas, breakthrough technology and innovation. At Unleash Lab I hope to get my my head out of the sand, connect with thinkers with their heads in the clouds, and perhaps together we can drag each other into a better reality where absolutely everyone in this world can access affordable healthcare.
If you want to find out more or connect, check out www.guluhealth.com.
