Every country but especially the third world countries are suffering terribly because of the pandemic. People are either losing lives because of a lack of proper medical care or simply because they can't afford the treatment. So, when an all-girls robotics team from Afghanistan creates a low-cost lightweight ventilator it's a huge feat.??
This is the same team?that was earlier working on a design for a cheap ventilator to be made using car parts. Now, they have finally completed it.?
The team has already won international awards for its robots. In March, they started working on an open-source, low-cost ventilator after the coronavirus pandemic hit the war-torn nation, reported?Reuters.?
It took them four months to finish the ventilator which is partially based on a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) design, and they received guidance from experts at Harvard University.
The device that 18-year-old Somaya Faruqi and her team members made is easy to carry. It can run on battery power for 10 hours. It costs about $700 to produce which is significantly lower compared with the $20,000 price of a traditional ventilator.
¡°We are delighted that we were able to take our first step in the field of medicine and to be able to serve the people in this area as well. All members of our team feel happy because after months of hard work, we were able to achieve this result,¡± Reuters quoted Faruqi as saying.?
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The ventilator still has to undergo final testing from health authorities before that can be used on a mass level. However, the design and the efforts are being welcomed in the country that just has 800 ventilators to treat the increasing number of coronavirus cases.?
Health Ministry spokesman Akmal Samsor said once the ventilators are approved they'll be rolled out in Afghan hospitals and the design will shared with the World Health Organization.
¡°We appreciate the initiative and creativity in Afghanistan¡¯s health sector...after they are approved, we will use these ventilators and we are determined to contract with companies so we can also export them,¡± he reportedly said.
Afghanistan has recorded around 35,500 COVID-19 cases and 1,181 deaths. However, according to the experts the number could be far higher because of low testing rates.?
The ventilator designed by the girls will surely increase the help critical patients need.?
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