What Is PATH and How Does it Improve Global Health?
The Program for Appropriate Technology in Health (PATH) is an international, nonprofit organization that is a leader in innovating global health solutions. The program’s aim is to bring about effective and cutting edge technologies and products to underserved areas of the world and to work toward providing major healthcare needs. PATH works closely with partners around the world to bring passion and innovation to solving these problems and to scale them on a global level.
PATH has five primary vehicles of innovation, being:
- Vaccines, which are developed to be quickly deployed to where they are needed most. Using its own Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access, PATH brings in top innovators from around the world to work on vaccines at every stage — from testing and producing to deployment technologies that promote safe usage.
- Drugs, where PATH works closely with partners to provide affordable medicines targeting low-income countries. This allows life-saving medicines to be accessible by more people and more quickly where they are needed most.
- Diagnostics, which are an integral part of managing people’s health, is hugely developed by PATH. It is creating and implementing fast-acting, single-use “point‑of‑care” diagnostic exams in order to get fast results when time matters and to ensure sterility.
- Devices, which PATH helps accelerate, are primarily focused on sterilization. Water, air, food and medical supplies all need to be clean in order to be effective and safe. This is where PATH steps in, reinforcing markets for water sanitation products, developing sterilization devices and making all of these available to areas without access.
- System and service innovations, which involves working with the current infrastructure, or, as in many cases, strengthening the currently standing one to allow the flow of medical innovations from suppliers to the local communities in need. Included in this is the training of local personnel where there are shortages and providing them access to digital aid to help local medical systems.
PATH works hard to take the most innovative medical solutions available to countries that need it most, and in many cases, develops its own solutions to issues as well. By strengthening methods that give people access to important medical supplies, medicine, newer technologies and practices, PATH is an important ally in underserved areas.
– Rebekah Covey
Photo: Flickr
