“Profits Over Lives”: Hyper-commercialisation of Medical Equipment and its Impact on Patient Care and Education

This live webinar will explore how the hyper-commercialisation of medical equipment and restrictive IP regimes are undermining patient care and health-worker training in low- and middle-income countries. Drawing on scarce but telling literature, historical parallels with biotech innovation, and real-world examples, the session highlights how weak biomedical capacity fuels unsafe care and growing “equipment graveyards.” The webinar concludes with practical actions hospitals, practitioners, and policymakers can take, and showcases how Operation Smile’s Biomedical Education Pathway is helping close the gap between equipment access, education, and safe surgery.

Lecturer: Chifundo Msokera, MD, MSc, MRSPH, Malawi