Strengthening infrastructure for strengthening the healthcare

Abstract

Second hand and aging medical equipment are in use throughout the Mongolian country. Projects from the Mongolian Ministry of Health, the Asian Development Bank, the World Health Organization or the Mongolian Emergency Service Hospital Hygiene Project (MeshHp) try to improve the medical situation by offering education, suggestions and modern medical technology. But experiences with modern equipment e.g. computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) in Ulaanbaatar and Aimag areas demonstrate several problems including damages of the devices and irregularities with the functionality of the devices. While medical equipment developed 20 years ago tend to consist of robust hardware components, which are relatively unaffected by changing environmental and infrastructure conditions, modern medical technology consists of extremely sensitive and damageable components, which are likely to be seriously affected by slightly and severe changes in the infrastructure. Investments into modern medical technology can be seen as a waste of money, when requirements for that technology are not fulfilled or cannot be ensured and the technology fails or gets damaged. Protective measures for electricity and water supply can stabilize the infrastructure and improve the quality, what leads to safer and more accurate operation of modern medical devices. Repairing and Maintenance services could concentrate on safetyand functionalityrelated checks instead of trying to repair damages caused by voltage spikes or over-current. Qualityand riskmanagement could ensure the correct functionality and calibration of medical devices and therefore strengthen the healthcare.