Biomedical engineering
Professional Associations aligned to biomedical engineering (i.e. the IMechE in the UK) compared to 17 across Africa (while the continent is three times as big as Europe). This has a direct correlation with the number
of biomedical engineers in these regions, for instance, the WHO report that in 2015, the UK had 469 registered biomedical engineers (0.07 per 10,000 population) compared to Uganda (49 registered, 0.012 per 10,000) or Kenya (20 registered, 0.004 per 10,000). Addressing this workforce shortage is important not just because it limits local capacity to support existing medical technology, but because it limits local capacity for innovation and development of new medical technologies, appropriate for the local context. This is particularly acute in low-resource settings in African countries, where healthcare needs and environment may differ significantly from high resource settings in the same country (as evident in Europe, the US and other high-income countries) and thus render existing solutions inappropriate. The development of healthcare technology entails significant investments in economic, physical and human resources; its financial requirements can bear heavily on the limited resources of many African countries. To be able to function properly and safely, it requires an appropriate physical environment, proper care and maintenance, and skilled operators. Previously, African countries lacked the necessary skills to install, maintain, manage, upgrade, design and produce health technologies, leaving the continent reliant on foreign technical expertise. Indeed, most health technologies currently used in Africa are imported, typically from high-income countries, and are often inappropriate for use in the African context. This results in healthcare
Figure 3. Discussing device components during device assembly.
The path forward demands more than aid; it requires development of Africa’s engineering and innovation ecosystems to build a strong, sustainable health technology research and development base. This requires investment in people, infrastructure and regulatory infrastructure.
technology graveyards littered with broken or unusable equipment, wastage of valuable resources and the fast deterioration of healthcare facilities. Despite these challenges there is reason for optimism and action. A quiet revolution is
unfolding across Africa; one that challenges the outdated notion that medical innovation, and supplies of equipment, must always flow from the ‘Global North’ to the ‘Global South’. In fact, African engineers and innovators are designing healthcare technologies designed specifically for their context. Uganda’s ELITE Vein Locator,7
developed from Mbarara University
of Science and Technology, uses near-infrared imaging to help nurses find veins in difficult cases - a game-changer for paediatric and elderly care in rural clinics. In Nigeria, the Safer Births Bundle8
developed by the University of
Lagos is proving that simple, locally-produced delivery kits can dramatically reduce maternal mortality. In Ghana and Nigeria, Crib A’glow,9
the
MedTech startup has developed a solar-powered phototherapy device for neonatal jaundice that costs 1/10th of imported units and withstands rural clinic conditions. Rwanda’s Babyl Health10 built a telemedicine platform that handles 3,000 daily consultations via basic mobile phones - no smartphones required. The LeVe CPAP system11
is being manufactured Figure 2. Checking electronics and wiring during device assembly. in Uganda to provide a locally sustainable June 2025 I
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