We need innovative thinking to address the burden of disease

Innovation is generally thought to be key to development that can help to overcome health challenges both nationally and globally. Innovation does not only refer to the introduction and adaptation of technologies but covers the entire value chain from the generation of new ideas, their transformation into new or improved products, services or processes and finally to their implementation. The complexity of our health challenges requires interdisciplinary approaches that can examine innovations with reference to the environments in and that they are applied to ensure contextually appropriate and effective implementation. Nailah Conrad and Tania Douglas recently described to the Mail & Guardian how activities in education and innovation in health in the Division of Biomedical Engineering contribute to the development of health innovators and prepare them to effectively address challenges at hand. Read the full story here.