The brutal impact of COVID-19 in Latin America has prompted collaboration in the health sector, leading to digital and medical innovations throughout the region. Hundreds of heterogeneous groups with different expertise and backgrounds have come together to provide assistance to overwhelmed health sector companies and service providers.

In Argentina, for example, the Industrial National Technology Institute has joined forces with small and medium-sized businesses in the plastics manufacturing sector to produce respirators.

A healthcare executive in Buenos Aires commented, "Argentina does not have world-beating medical technology but it is a regional leader and is internationally recognised for its healthcare professionals."

"Argentina does not have world-beating medical technology but it is a regional leader and is internationally recognised for its healthcare professionals."

Healthcare executive, Argentina

Chile has also thrived in the production of respirators and the collaboration between medical companies and technology university researchers has led to the creation of innovative software solutions used both in hospitals and mobile health tracking apps.

A senior hospital executive praised the efforts of the industry, "During the first wave of COVID-19 in 2020, the entire health system was close to collapse but we never ran out of ventilators for critical patients. Unfortunately, the shortage was more serious in Peru and Bolivia."

It should be noted that the private health sector in Chile is large and to face the pandemic it was temporarily integrated into the public system. This multiplied the coverage and access to the most advanced technologies.

It remains to be seen if these makeshift alliances will persist and what impact they may have on the medical device sector in Argentina and Chile. A medical technology executive observed, "It is too early to tell but we are working with the government to promote the development of the sector. Specifically, we are seeking to develop local suppliers and strengthen our export potential. It all takes time though. It is one thing to discuss and agree, it is another to deliver it."

"We are seeking to develop local suppliers and strengthen our export potential. It all takes time though. It is one thing to discuss and agree, it is another to deliver it."

Medical technology executive, Argentina

A senior manager at the Chamber of Commerce in Argentina sees other challenges, "The barriers are rather structural. Argentina has macro-level difficulties, government policy seems to be focused on anchoring local inflation rather than increasing foreign trade. To export state-of-the-art technology, it is often necessary to import inputs, and today there are great difficulties in doing so."

Our sources in Chile agreed, "It is highly unlikely that the industry will become a relevant one. What is expected to increase considerably is the training of technicians who can use the latest health technologies and those electrical and software engineers who can develop the control systems for the instruments."

Finally, you can have the best medical products in the world but without the people to operate them, they are useless. As a senior consultant in Argentina commented, "The teams of technicians trained to use these complex medical devices are more scarce than the devices themselves."