New York Times articles on medical equipment

On August 4, 2011 and August 9, 2011, Tina Rosenberg of The New York Times wrote two very informative articles about sending surplus medical equipment and supplies to developing nations. The first was called Salvaging Medical Cast-Offs to Save Lives, and the second was Making Medical Donations Work. In both articles, she told about how in very many cases, medical equipment and related supplies have been sent that are not appropriate for various reasons. Often it would break down soon after arrival, and local people could not make repairs. Find her articles with a Google search. Also see a similar article by Katherine Harmon Courage in the Scientific American Magazine: Medical Technology Donations Often Fail to Help (August 1, 2012). However, with proper advance planning, preparation, and maintaining communications between the sender and receiver after the products have been sent, many of these problems can be avoided.