
Nobel Laureate Develops Low-Cost Health Care System for Bangladesh (cost is $2/year) - ph0rque
http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-04-16-voa3.cfm
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felipe
It is worth mentioning that Muhammad Yunus is not only a microcredit pioneer
but also co-created Grameen Phone, the very first mass cell phone provider in
Bangladesh. They implemented a very innovative business model to make cell
phones accessible to the poor, by allowing the cell phone owner (a villager)
to resell minutes to other people in that same village.

What is interesting (and relevant for HN) is that the Grameen Phone experience
demonstrates how access to technology empowers people exponentially:

1) The cell phone owner (villager) has a new source of income

2) The other villagers also increase their income, because now with access to
crop information and market info, they can run their crops with less waste and
negotiate a better price

3) Women is empowered because most of the phone owners are women (who are
disenfranchised in that society)

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mhashim
Whats interesting about the model of selling minutes is that it is now used
almost as a currency in some countries (specifically in african countries)
where a cab driver will accept a transfer of minutes rather than money because
he knows he can resell those minutes to someone else.

~~~
felipe
Exactly. Actually the site nextbillion.net did a case study a few years ago
about this subject. I cannot find the exact link right now, but I am sure it's
somewhere in the site :)

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cwan
This TED talk is pretty on point/inspirational as well on building sustainable
and even world class healthcare in developing countries -
[http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ernest_madu_on_world_clas...](http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/ernest_madu_on_world_class_health_care.html).

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CWuestefeld
I'm glad they're improving their situation.

But it can't work here. Are you going to be satisfied when your spouse or
child is seriously ill, if you can only talk to a doctor by telephone, and no
specialist ever even examines the patient?

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ph0rque
This service already exists here (in US, I assume), and is actually a
prerequisite of sorts when scheduling an appointment: you have to call the
nurse, explain your situation, and go from there. The catch is, you already
have to have insurance to be able to do this (which costs much more than
$2/year).

