Health Hackathons Drive Affordable Medical Technology Innovation Through Community Engagement

Health hackathons are multidisciplinary events bringing together diverse stakeholders to solve key health challenges through a process of co-creation. Health hackathons have gained significant traction as sources of medical innovation globally. They carry particular significance for addressing health discrepancies in resource-limited settings, where there is dire need for cost-effective medical technologies that can deliver high-quality health in an affordable and sustainable way. This paper discusses the model of MIT Hacking Medicine’s health hackathons, and its application to hackathons in India and Uganda for medical innovation by the Consortium for Affordable Medical Technologies (CAMTech) of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Center for Global Health. Case studies of successful projects coming out of these hackathons are discussed to illustrate the potential of such innovations for real-world impact and sustainable growth in frontier markets. Examples of the tools developed to support further project development after the end of the hackathon and to keep track of project progress and impact are presented. The hacking philosophy pioneered by MIT Hacking Medicine is taken one step further with the establishment of CAMTech Co-creation Labs on the ground in India and Uganda and the CAMTech Innovation Platform. The CAMTech Co-creation Labs and Innovation Platform form long-lasting international partnerships that seek to reinvent healthcare in low- and middle-income countries and offer promise for cost-effective medical solutions in both resource-limited and resource-rich settings.