MANILA, Philippines - The ASEAN Foundation and General Electric signed a memorandum of understanding to promote the use of advanced technology to expand access to quality healthcare in rural areas in ASEAN.
Under the agreement, GE and the ASEAN Foundation will collaborate to provide capacity building programs for doctors, nurse, and midwives to create awareness of the various technologies and solutions that are specifically designed to provide better healthcare services in rural clinics and hospitals. In addition, GE and the ASEAN Foundation will also partner with the ministries of health in the ASEAN countries on the design of healthcare policies and programs particularly those which impact rural healthcare.
Dr. Makarim Wibisono, executive director of the ASEAN Foundation, and Stuart Dean, CEO of GE ASEAN signed the memorandum of understanding.
Dr. Wibisono pointed out, “In some ASEAN countries, where more than half of the population still live in poor conditions, health issues remain a prevalent problem. These health issues are encountered from birth, through infancy, childhood, adolescence, adult life and old age. Often the importance of addressing them is overlooked or given low priority. It is important that we pay attention to bring solutions to the problems faced.”
Health is one of the activities stipulated in the memorandum of understanding on the establishment of the ASEAN Foundation, which was signed by the ASEAN leaders in December 1997. To establish the ASEAN community by 2015, the foundation is mandated to collaborate with various stakeholders, including the private sector, as demonstrated by this new partnership with the GE, to help improve the quality of lives of the people in the ASEAN region.
Stuart Dean said, “This partnership with the ASEAN Foundation is timely as it will help us deepen our commitment to provide advanced technology and solutions to enhance access to good quality and affordable healthcare, particularly in rural and remote areas. We will also be involved in contributing to human resources development in the ASEAN region through capacity-building and assist in public policy and strategy development. We see great potential to develop new opportunities for healthcare in ASEAN.” He added that this memorandum of understanding will also pave the way for GE to contribute more to the development of other areas in the region, such as energy, transportation and infrastructure.
GE Healthcare has been actively introducing its Healthymagination initiative across the region, a global campaign that focuses on increasing access to quality and affordable healthcare.
An example of GE’s commitment to improve rural healthcare, GE Healthcare launched the Vscan version 1.3 (Vscan 1.3) in Indonesia, a handheld, pocket-sized screening device with ultrasound technologies, adapted locally with a user interface in Bahasa Indonesia for use by medical general practitioners (GPs). Vscan fulfills a healthcare need for rural areas and helping national efforts to lower maternal infant mortality rates as ultrasound technology enables the GP to take a non-invasive look inside the body for immediate visualization of what he or she feels or hears. With more information at the point of care, the GP is able to determine the optimized course of treatment and provide fast, efficient and personalized care.