Welcome to Kirsty Meets!
Each month I meet key stakeholders and business leaders in the social care sector. This month I met Alf-Erik Malm, Chief Executive, Global Health Technology AS. I caught up with Alf-Erik to discuss sustainability, innovation in health care, and living a longer and healthier life.
So Alf-Erik, can you tell us a little about Global Health Technology AS? The history of the business, your products and mission?
Global Health Technology was established by a committed and lovely lady who wanted to improve the quality of life of a neglected group. Her husband had a stoma, and leaks from this reduced his motivation to socialize. At the age of 62, she decided to develop a solution so that others did not experience the same. Her name is Jofrid Erland, and 10 years later we launched our patented Erland Care Stoma Pad.
The technology and combination of new materials that formed the basis of this product was the start of our skin-friendly series of wound dressings, Erland Care Protective Skin.
From day one, the company’s vision has been to create ground-breaking solutions that improve the quality of life for users. It still underlies everything we do.
Your work is also informed by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals – can you elaborate on these goals and why aiming for them is important?
As part of our vision, we are committed to supporting Goal 3, which wants to ensure good health and promoting quality of life for all, regardless of age. But as a responsible company, we take all the sustainability goals seriously, and believe it is a prerequisite for sustainable operations.
We challenge everything we do to ensure that we have the least possible negative impact on the environment. All our packaging has been changed from plastic to paper. Our packaging is designed to require the least possible space during transport and we want to produce as close as possible to our users. For example, all deliveries in the UK, both to Amazon and the healthcare system, are also manufactured in the UK.
Being based in Norway, to what extent does a Nordic model influence your approach to care?
The Nordic welfare model ensures good treatment and necessary follow-up for everyone, regardless of income or age. We seek a flat structure where all people deserve to be treated for who they are.
Having said that, we also have to admit that our healthcare system is experiencing major challenges. Even in Norway, hospitals do not feel that they are allocated enough funds, even though we are one of the richest countries in the world.
These challenges probably have to be solved to a greater extent by us as citizens taking greater responsibility for our own health. We need to decrease the burden on the healthcare system at the same time as the population gets older and older. In my latest book “A CAR – and the art of maintaining a body” I describe these challenges based on WHO’s studies and provide clear recommendations for those who want to improve their own health.
How do your innovative products specially help the end-user live a longer and healthier life?
By actively listening to users and healthcare personnel, we develop new prototypes. And through testing these, we ensure that our solutions are better than what existed before. It is essential for us that users experience our solutions as better, otherwise they have no value.
And finally Alf-Erik, where can we find out a little more about Global Health Technology AS?
For those who want to learn more about our products, have suggestions for new products or would like to arrange a visit, find us at www.globalhealthtechnology.no.
