Populations in low- and middle-income countries face persistent barriers to accessing medical technologies, often rooted in socio-economic, cultural, and systemic inequalities. Limited financial resources, under-resourced health infrastructure, and high costs of imported medical equipment restrict the availability of essential self-collection, diagnostic and treatment tools. As a result, many people in these regions experience delays in diagnosis and care, leading to increased morbidity and mortality rates.
This project will support GSE Biomedical by identifying barriers, enablers and opportunities (e.g., funding, regulatory, socio-economic and political) in Mexican medical device markets to advance their social impact goal of ensuring equitable access to life-saving medical technologies. The focus will be on a self-collection device used to screen for gynaecological conditions like cervical cancer and sexually transmitted diseases. The case study aims to analyse the social impact of self-administered medical technologies, focusing on a self-administered gynaecological device, and how the device could address critical gaps in current health care delivery when manufactured locally in Mexico.
