Anaesthetic equipment for a developing country.

A development aid project to Malawi is described. This involved the development of a suitable anaesthetic machine for use in under-developed countries and the selection of a suitable oxygen concentrator to provide it with air and oxygen. All government hospitals were provided with anaesthetic equipment and personnel were trained to keep it regularly serviced. Follow up testing of reliability was undertaken. The cost benefit to the country amounted to 234,084 pounds (sterling) per year. This is the first instance of widespread use of standardized anaesthetic equipment which includes oxygen concentrators.