GE Healthcare creates new Sustainable Healthcare Solutions business

GE Healthcare has announced the creation of a new business unit, Sustainable Healthcare Solutions, combining its operations in India, South Asia, Africa and Southeast Asia.

Aimed at developing high-value, low-cost technologies and healthcare delivery solutions across multiple care settings, the new unit will invest $300 million (196.7 million pounds) to develop a more robust affordable healthcare portfolio.

It will work with governments, clinicians, private operators and non-governmental organisations to deliver value-based solutions aimed at improving outcomes for health systems and patients.

The low-cost healthcare equipment sector alone is now estimated to be worth more than $8 billion, as developing countries continue to invest in long-term healthcare solutions.

John Flannery, president and chief executive officer of GE Healthcare, said: "Much of the world's population is without adequate healthcare, and innovations that can create better patient outcomes in a sustainable way are urgently needed."

The new division covers 70 markets and hopes to increase access for 5.8 billion people around the world without basic health.