Good health and well-being Ensuring the effectiveness of PPE in low income countries

Project summary

Testing PPE (personal protective equipment) requires materials and equipment that are often not readily available in many low-income countries. Many can struggle to meet the strict requirements set by standards bodies for testing.

The UTS Rapido Social unit teamed up with NGO Field Ready who make humanitarian aid supplies to create CAD drawings and instructions for building PPE testing equipment designed specifically to be rapidly manufactured on-the-ground in the countries where it is needed.

The partnership with Field Ready and the involvement of in-country engineers helped establish what is – and just as important what is not – possible in different countries. Most of the equipment can be assembled using easy to access items, and while sometimes it might not look like much, it can be life-saving by testing efficacy – such as whether a face shield ready does block infections droplets when a patient sneezes or coughs.

The project received funding from the UTS Centre for Social Justice & Inclusions Social Impact Grant scheme. So far, testing equipment drawings and guides for construction and use developed for the project have been shared with engineers in Kenya, Iraq, Bangladesh and Uganda.

For more information, read our article on testing personal protective equipment for efficacy.

Project timeframe

2020 – ongoing

SDG targets addressed by this project

Good health and well-being: 3.d – Strengthen the capacity of all countries, in particular developing countries, for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks.