Potential To Save Millions Of Lives

December 2004

Potential To Save Millions Of Lives With Development Of Unique Cholera Medical Device

New Zealand based development agency, Medicine Mondiale will be working with Design that Matters - a non profit organization based at the prestigious MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) in the United States * to develop a revolutionary, patent pending, Cholera and Diarrhoeal Infection Treatment Device that has the potential to save millions of lives worldwide.

Medicine Mondiale Founder, New Zealand scientist Ray Avery said, "Profits from the sale of the patent pending device will be used to fund further research into products which will aid healthcare in under-serviced communities throughout the developing world."

Ray Avery was approached by Design that Matters (DtM) because of his international reputation for introducing high quality low cost medical devices in the developing world. He was responsible for establishing high quality affordable intraocular lens (IOL) manufacturing plants in Nepal and Eritrea which now account for over 10% of the world's IOL output.

Cholera epidemics in war zones and refugee camps often mean that the numbers of patients exceed the available trained medical staff. This means that local people have to treat themselves.

As an acute intestinal infection cholera needs to be treated quickly or can lead to severe dehydration and death. When cholera and infectious diarrhoeal outbreaks occur in epidemic proportions in unprepared communities fatality rates of 50% are common.

"This creates the need for the IV drip device which is simple to set up and operate," explained Ray Avery, "and the guys at DtM have come up with a design which can be operated by non-medical personnel."

Adept (NZ) Ltd is carrying out the design and development on a pro bono basis and they will manufacture the device in New Zealand. This plastic injection molding company specialises in research and development and the production of high tech medical products.

Dam chose NZ as their preferred manufacturing site because Adept have a proven integrated product development incubator which uses one of the most advanced 3D computer solids modeling programmers in the world. Design that Matters co-director Neil Cantor said they are committed to seeking collaborative partnerships with extraordinary organizations such as Medicine Mondale who have a proven track record in bringing quality healthcare to the developing world.

"As this product can be operated by non-medical personnel it will result in more rapid/cost effective treatment of acute dehydration, potentially saving millions of lives throughout the developing world," said Ray Avery.

For further information contact: Ray Avery CEO Medicine Mondiale Tel: (09) 630 8183/ Mobile: 027 4760 591 Fax: (09) 630 2410 Email: medicinemondiale@xtra.co.nz About Medicine Mondiale:

Medicine Mondiale is a New Zealand based development organisation dedicated to making essential medicines and medical technology affordable and available for developing country economies. Medicine Mondiale also conducts ongoing research into the development of low cost medicines and medical devices to treat diseases endemic in the developing world.

Medicine Mondiale's Vision is a world where everyone has access to medicines essential for quality healthcare. For further information visit our website www.medicinemondiale.org

About Design that Matters:

DtM is a nonprofit product design and development enterprise whose mission is to empower millions of people in the developing world with sustainable solutions to pressing needs identified by the communities themselves. DtM clients include Malian educators in nighttime adult literacy classes seeking better tools for teaching, Bangladeshi doctors seeking an improved way deliver fluids to cholera patients and entrepreneurs in Benin seeking an efficient way to process locally-produced sunflower seeds. Launched in 2000 at the MIT Media Lab, Design that Matters incorporated as an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit in June 2003. To learn more about DtM's work around the world, visit the DtM Web site at www.designthatmatters.org

About Adept

Adept Ltdbased in Morningside, Auckland, designs and manufactures plastic injection mouldings and medical components, and is a key supplier to iconic companies like Navman and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare. As well as manufacturing custom products for clients, Adept produces specialist products for worldwide distribution to meat industries, providing innovative solutions to industrial problems.

ENDS

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