Websites We Love: Hospital In A Box

Samuel Okoruwa

4 years ago

Hospital in a Box was co-founded by Dr Seyi Olusola, who on his return to Nigeria discovered that many healthcare institutions, especially in the rural areas of Nigeria, were lacking medical facilities. He was disturbed by the fact that many people were dying of common, survivable ailments and injuries such as burns, trauma, and heart attack that would be easily treatable if medical care was easy to obtain. It was for this reason that he developed Hospital in a Box.

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Hospital in a Box is portable equipment that contains tools for various kinds of surgical procedures including defibrillators, EKG monitoring, anaesthesia, and surgical lighting. It can be delivered by jeep or by helicopter to rural areas, including those that are inaccessible by road. Designed to be versatile, the equipment can be powered through standard means, but also by a solar panel, a car’s 12-volt plug, or a foot pedal. It is also customisable for oral surgeries such as the removal of wisdom teeth or for routine operations to remove cataracts, gall bladder, or appendices. It has been used successfully to perform hysterectomies and even heart surgeries.

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The success of Hospital in a Box led Dr Oyesola to give a TED Global talk in 2007, where he explained the unfavourable conditions under which Nigerian medical professionals operate. According to him, there’s much that could be done in the area of basic care at hospitals, especially in rural Nigeria, where patients are treated with outdated, obsolete, and non-functioning medical equipment. Featured Image Source: Hospital In A Box

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