A Medical Technology Hackathon for India's Poor
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One of every three children in India dies before age five. Seventeen percent of all women dying during childbirth are in India, and mothers in India and other developing countries are 14 times more likely to die than their counterparts in wealthier countries.
In an effort to put some of that power to work to address those dismal health-care statistics, about 250 engineers, entrepreneurs, and health-care specialists from India’s startups and IT and drug companies are gathering this week in Bangalore, the nation’s high-tech hub. They’re slated to take part in a two-day hackathon organized by Boston’s Consortium for Affordable Medical Technologies (CAMTech) in which teams compete to turn ideas into innovative prototypes for maternal and child health care. Among the multinationals supporting CAMTech is General Electric, which will host the hackathon at its R&D center named after Jack Welch.
