Shay Salamon, regional director in Guatemala of the Multilateral Chamber of Commerce and Cooperation Israel Ibero-America (now the Israel Ibero-America Chamber of Commerce), together with a group of Israeli and Guatemalan professionals and entrepreneurs, developed a first prototype of a portable, low-cost mechanical ventilator. The Chamber announced the project in May 2020: the device will make it possible to assist patients with respiratory problems, whether caused by Covid-19 or other conditions.
A portable ventilator in response to the coronavirus crisis in Central America
The portable ventilator seeks to address the risk of a shortage of ventilators and respirators that could arise in the Central American region as a result of the coronavirus crisis. The World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020.
The first version of the model was developed in the Republic of Guatemala. Efforts are currently under way to develop a version 2.0 of the device in the Republic of Costa Rica.
Lower cost and easy transport for emergency services
Respirators and mechanical ventilators are very expensive equipment. As a result, health systems, especially in Central America, face major limitations in accessing them due to a lack of financial resources, even though they are crucial to saving the lives of people suffering respiratory crises.
In the case of this prototype, it is estimated that its sale price could be no more than 15% of the cost of a standard ventilator. It also has the advantage of being easily transported in an ambulance, which will make the work of emergency services easier when they face crises of this kind, with agile, reliable and safe equipment.
Cooperation between Israel and Guatemala in health and innovation
For the Chamber, projects like this demonstrate the potential of multilateral relations. The organization congratulated its director on the success achieved in this development and reiterated its intention to continue supporting projects that foster multilateral cooperation between countries for the benefit of their people.
The Chamber in Guatemala
The Israel Ibero-America Chamber of Commerce promotes cooperation between Israel and Central America. See the Guatemala profile and the Israel profile, and learn more about the Chamber and its network of regional directors.
