Gradian Health Systems
Gradian Health Systems
Not-for-profit
Year launched: 2011Program Website
Country of Operation
Approach
Target geography
Target Population
Target income level
- Bottom 20%
- Lower-middle income (20-40%)
- Middle-income (40-60%)
- Higher middle-income (60-80%)
- High-income (80-100%)
Health focus
- Emergency care
- Maternal, newborn and child health
- Noncommunicable disease(s)
CHMI PLUS Status
Profile Completeness Rating
Monitoring & Evaluation Reporting
Summary
Gradian Health Systems is a nonprofit social enterprise that equips hospitals around the world to deliver anaesthesia safely and provide quality surgical care. Our Universal Anaesthesia Machine was designed to operate in settings with unreliable electricity and a lack of compressed medical gases.Program goals
An estimated 5 billion people lack access to adequate surgical and anaesthetic care, and more people die from surgically treatable conditions than HIV, TB and malaria combined. Gradian Health Systems was established to overcome the infrastructural and technological challenges associated with delivering safe surgery. With the Universal Anaesthesia Machine (UAM), Gradian strives to make surgery possible in all conditions. Due to its innovative design, low cost, high quality and training/maintenance support provided by Gradian, the UAM has the potential to enable safe surgery in even the most challenging contexts, averting thousands of deaths and disabilities and helping the world save trillions of dollars in lost productivity.
Key program components
Gradian Health Systems
- Cost – As a social enterprise, we sell the UAM at our manufacturing cost, which allows us to keep the price as low as possible and scale production to meet market demand.
- Clinical Training – When we sell a UAM, we provide a complementary two-day on-site training for clinical and technical staff led by a local physician anaesthetist and biomedical engineer/technician.
- Support at Every Level – Every UAM comes with a two-year parts warranty, for which Gradian trains local biomedical technicians to perform first-line service on and maintenance of the UAM. We also offer phone and internet support, spare parts by courier shipment and regional service providers.
- Advocacy – To help advance our mission, Gradian works to elevate the issue of safe surgery on the global health agenda. We are active in a number of organizations to promote safe surgical and anaesthetic care around the world, including the Global Alliance for Surgical, Obstetric, Trauma and Anaesthetic Care (the G4 Alliance) and the Lancet Commission on Global Surgery.
Universal Anaesthesia Machine
- Reliability – The UAM operates with or without electricity and compressed gas, so if power is lost and no other source of oxygen is available, it automatically converts to draw-over mode using room air.
- Proven Quality and Durability – The UAM is CE-certified (the European equivalent of FDA approval) and its compact, rugged design is well-suited for any environment.
- Integrated Safety – The oxygen monitor continuously displays inspired oxygen content, lasting up to 10 hours on battery backup during power outages. The ventilator offers alarms for disconnect, high pressure, apnea and other conditions.
- Suitability for Patients – The UAM is compatible with all standard adult and pediatric breathing systems to provide anaesthesia for both simple and long/complex procedures. The bellows design provides different volumes to facilitate assisted breathing for children and adults.