CYBERJAYA: Youths have been urged to innovate and create new products in the field of medical technology to improve access to medical facilities nationwide.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Adham Baba said youths must come up with more ideas to compete both locally and internationally, especially in dealing with the "new normal" challenges in facing Covid-19.
"We welcome ideas that will help solve problems in the medical field.
"The ministry will be opened to provide guidance and advice, so we hope the youths will continue to innovate and create more medical technology products."
He said this at the launch of Ethovent, Malaysia's first-of-its-kind semi-ventilator, which is an automated bagging machine, to assist patients with breathing difficulties.
It replaces the need of using a bag valve mask or "Ambu bag", a hand-held manual resuscitator.
Ethovent, developed by Saora Industries, had been earmarked as one of the pilot projects under the National Technology and Innovation Sandbox (NTIS), announced during the Economic Recovery Plan (Penjana) in June.
Dr Adham said he was confident that the NTIS initiative would change the country from being a consumption nation to an innovator and producing nation.
"At the Health Ministry, we very much encourage medical innovation such as Ethovent."
Science, Technology and Innovation Minister Khairy Jamaluddin said the usage of the Ethovent semi-ventilator could be expanded to government health clinics or rural hospitals that did not have access to ventilator machines.
Ethovent, he said, had potential not just in Malaysia, but also overseas where it could be used in battlefield medicine.
"MaGIC (Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre), together with my ministry will help accelerate this innovation to actual commercialisation.
"We will also be assisting Saora Industries as part of the NTIS, and Special Adviser to the Prime Minister on Public Health Tan Sri Dr Jemilah Mahmood on regulatory matters," he said.
Meanwhile, Saora Industries' chief executive officer Ganesh Muren, who also developed Ethovent, said the innovation addressed three most important aspects - affordability, accessibility, and reliability.
The idea for Ethovent, he said, was born two weeks after the Movement Control Order (MCO) was enforced.
"In Malaysia, we have 1,220 units of ventilators available for a population of over 32 million.
"It took a team of five people to create Ethovent within seven weeks," he said.
Before its launch, the semi-ventilator had undergone multiple clinical trials at the Tengku Ampuan Rahimah Hospital in Klang, Selangor.
Priced at RM8,500 each, Ganesh said Ethovent's intellectual property would be open-sourced to social enterprises all over the world for them to adopt and build their version of the machine.
"We are looking to work with Red Cross to make Ethovent's design, software and blueprint accessible in all 190 countries."
He pointed out that an automated bagging machine would free up medical personnel, and deliver controlled and consistent bagging.
The semi-ventilator, he added, could also be used for patients suffering from pneumonia, acute respiratory distress syndrome, and other respiratory diseases.