GE Healthcare is a global major General Electric Company has the healthcare business of US$17bn, launched the Lullaby Warmer today in order to reduce costs, increase quality and access to affordable health care as the part of its ‘healthymagination’. In the developing countries where 90% of the world’s births occur, Lullaby Warmer has the potential to help caregivers improve access to quality infant care.

During the process of birth, an infant’s body temperature drops down quickly as soon as it’s outside the controlled environment of the mother’s womb. Availability of the warmth is the first line of survival for a new born without the physiological mechanisms to fight off the cold. The baby needs a device that can provide delicate warmth, emulating the mother's womb.

4 million neonates(less than 1 month old) die out of 139 million births that occur each year around the world from mostly preventable causes. More than 50% of the infants are born in inappropriate conditions where access to affordable technology is very limited. Out of all 25 percent birth occurs in India.

By controlling the neonatal morality, we can gradually decrease the child mortality rate.  A survey says, approximately 37% of deaths among children under five years of age occurs in the first month of life, most in the first week. The rate of infant mortality is highest in India and this care area is neglected the most. In India, 53% of the birth lacks the skilled people, access to critical eequipments like baby warmers, incubators, phototherapy systems etc.

V Raja, President & CEO, GE Healthcare South Asia says, "The health care industry in India is challenged by rising costs, inequality of access and persistent quality issues". "We need new cost effective and reliable solutions to bridge the huge gap of unmet health care needs in India.  Addressing this need will help us grow as well."

Raja said that, "Healthymagination is our new business strategy that seeks to help people live healthier lives, support customer success and help GE grow". “We will invest in innovations that help to measurably reduce cost and improve, access and quality of health care. That means bringing to market high tech and lower-cost  products designed to meet specific local needs, clinical outcomes and process expertise to enable larger access to patients and help customers win.  The Lullaby Warmer is an example of a healthymagination product coming from our India R&D Centre".

Warmers and incubators are critical life saving devices in the developing nations, where at least 20 million low-birth-weight babies are born every year. Such equipments from the local users are more affordable but are of lower quality that makes it unsafe for the baby. However, good quality systems have to be imported and at a high cost. But we can’t take a risk for the most fragile patients- babies.

Due to technical faults in infant care equipment that neither possess adequate quality certifications nor adhere to basic safety norms, many infants have lost their precious lives in India.

In India, Bangalore, GE has designed and manufactured a new GE's Lullaby Warmer for India and for the world. GE Lullaby Warmer is a bed with a heater on the head so that a new born can feel the warmth as soon as it is born and bathed and checked for its first vital statistics. GE's Lullaby Warmer is an easy to use device and is trying to have an access to care in the urban and semi-urban areas. This device is also helped with resuscitation (airway management, suction, etc) option, which helps in reducing the infant deaths from hypothermia and asphyxia.

Thierry Leclercq, General Manager, Life Support Systems, GE Health care, said that, “We are looking to increase our Maternal-Infant Care portfolio by 35% by addressing critical needs for both mother and child care. At present, there is a dire need to reduce the infant mortality rates, and our new range of infant warmers, phototherapy and incubators, which are the outcomes of our healthymagination initiative, will address these needs.  Our warmers are designed to ensure the utmost safety and care for the newborn”.

The Lullaby Warmer follows all the safety standards prescribed by the International Electro-technical Commission (IEC) for such life saving equipment and still its price is 70% less than the imported baby warmers of the same class.

S Ganesh Prasad, Director, Clinical Systems, GE Healthcare South Asia, says, "In a world where too many women don’t survive childbirth and too many newborns don't survive their first month, ensuring the health of every mother and infant is more than a social concern". Prasad added," GE Healthcare designed the Lullaby Warmer with both the newborn and caregiver in mind. Our goal is to ensure maximum safety for the most delicate patient in the world. The Lullaby Warmer is remarkably simple to operate, even for a first-time operator".

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Posted by Amrith K.A on 30 May, 2009 5:26:11 PM IST #