Hospitals may soon be using a low-cost ventilator developed by a team of teenage girls from Afghanistan, reports People.
The Afghan Robotics Team first began developing the ventilator back in March, after COVID-19 struck, according to Reuters. The need was great, as the country reportedly has just 800 ventilators to treat patients.
With high school student and team captain Somaya Faruqi at the helm, she and six other teenage girls put their brains together to develop the machine, which can reportedly run on battery power for 10 hours and costs about $700 to produce—significantly less than the $20,000 price tag of a traditional ventilator.
“We are delighted that we were able to take our first step in the field of medicine and be able to serve the people in this area as well,” she told Reuters. “All members of our team feel happy because after months of hard work, we were able to achieve this result.”
Though the teens’ ventilator still needs to be tested by health authorities before it can be used, Health Ministry spokesman Akmal Samsor told Reuters that once it is approved, the ventilators will be rolled out in Afghan hospitals and the design will be shared with the World Health Organization.
Read the full story on People.
