HERAT: Team of robot-designing girls in Afghanistan is trying to build a low-cost medical ventilator from car parts, as health authorities look to boost critical-care capabilities for coronavirus patients in the impoverished country.
If the teenagers succeed and can get government approval for their prototype, they say it could be replicated for as little as $300, where normally ventilators sell for around $30,000, Afghan media reported.
“The team is working with local health specialists, as well as experts from Harvard University, to produce the prototype based on a design by Massachusetts Institute of Technology,” said Roya Mahboob, who runs an Afghan tech company and sponsors the team of five girls, aged 14-17.
They are part of a bigger group of high-achieving high school girls known as the “Afghan Dreamers”, from the western city of Herat, where coronavirus is on the rise after thousands of people returned from neighbouring Iran as it experienced a spike in cases.
As of Wednesday, Afghan officials had reported at least 784 coronavirus cases and 24 deaths across the country. The true number of cases is feared to be much higher, as only limited testing kits are available.
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