What is it that the market needs?
This cute kid is Miguelito, 7 years of age. He lives in an emerging market country on the African continent.
He woke up with fever. As fever in those areas can be related to more serious than only a “give him as Aspirin, and call me later” conditions,he needs to be seen by a doctor. Actually, his mother feels lucky. Only recently she read in the news that as the country tries to invest in healthcare, a new medical facility was opened in the city. Brand new, several dozens of millions of US dollars investment…
The anomaly mentioned in the header of this post is exactly that. There is absolutely no decent, trustable, comprehensive healthcare provider between this feverish kid and a new, modern Hospital. Miguelito needs to be seen by a general practitioner or a pediatrician. A 10-15 minutes examination, maybe a blood count and a malaria test. Instead, his mother travels for an hour to that new shiny hospital. She spends there four and a half hours and quite a sum of money. Miguelito is checked by a pediatrician in the ER. His blood tests are normal. “Probably a viral infection”, the doctor says.
Many times, too many, one needs to say, investments in healthcare perceived and executed as investment in fancy buildings, expensive equipment, advanced technology etc. Those are an enormous over-shoot when it comes to treating Miguelito. Yet, it’s either that or the village “medicine man” …
Hospitals, shiny ORs, 128 slice Computerized Tomography machines are much sexier to show. They make a bigger impact on every visitor and provide better photo ops. But if you ask Miguelito’s mom, she’d prefer a trustworthy pediatrician in the neighborhood. So, would we.
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