IFMBE Members Presentation

Part 4

Mladen Poluta

I first introduced myself to the IFMBE community after being elected to the Administrative Council in 1994 and thereafter when I was elected Treasurer in 1997. So, for those of you who know me by now, this is your chance to go and do something else!

I was born in Johannesburg, South Africa to parents of Croatian extraction. The first four letters of my name ("mlad") mean "young" and I try to live up to my name, at least in outlook if not in other respects! I was introduced to the field of biomedical engineering during a vacation job as a third-year electrical engineering student. My first task was to collect an intra-aortic balloon pump from a tertiary hospital for an emergency repair; notwithstanding the serious nature of my assignment - or perhaps because of it - it was "love at first sight". After graduating I joined the medical equipment industry and thereafter worked in an academic hospital setting, with a special interest in electrocardiology (incidentally, I remember first meeting Dov Jaron, current IFMBE President, after his talk on intra-aortic balloon pumping at the 1979 World Congress). Since 1987 I have been with the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Cape Town, the only such department in Sub-Saharan Africa. I am currently director of UCT's Healthcare Technology Management Programme (HTM) and head of its participating centre in the MRC/WHO Collaborating Centre for Essential Technologies in Health. My current research interests include:

  • constraint-driven management of healthcare technology interventions
  • development of effective and sustainable HTM tools and appropriate HTM "best practice"
  • competency profiling in healthcare technology management
  • sustainability indicators for clinical engineering departments
  • essential health technology packages

As HTM Programme Director I also wish to contribute to the building of HTM capacity and generation of new knowledge at the levels of both individuals and regional networks of HTM practitioners, focusing on the needs of the African Sub-Saharan region particularly but not exclusively, since countries in this region have much in common with other developing and emerging economies.

As IFMBE Treasurer I have an onerous - and perhaps unenviable - responsibility. Nevertheless I feel greatly privileged to serve in this role and see myself as part of a much larger team, together steering the IFMBE away from rocky shores and keeping the good ship "full steam ahead" (please refer to my report elsewhere in this issue).

I am equally privileged to serve on the executives of the African Federation for Technology in Healthcare (AFTH) and the South African biomedical- and clinical-engineering societies (BESSA and SAACE). As IFMBE Regional Liaison for Africa/AFTH I wish to contribute to bridging the "professional divide", in part by encouraging and assisting both societies and individuals in the African Region to see themselves as members of an international family, even though they may be poorly resourced and often feel isolated from peers elsewhere. I also strongly support the concept of regional alliances - such as the AFTH - able to focus on region-specific needs within a global environment, as well as close collaboration with organisations such as the World Health Organisation (WHO). Africa - and the Sub-Saharan Region in particular - faces tremendous healthcare challenges exacerbated by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Biomedical and clinical engineering and HTM practitioners can make an important contribution to the cost-effectiveness and sustainability of healthcare technology interventions, as well as improved performance of healthcare delivery systems. I call on the IFMBE family to remember their colleagues in the African Region, even though they may not be formal members of that family.

As an "African" and as chair of the IFMBE Working Group for Developing Countries (WG/DC) I also see the tremendous opportunities offered by the internet to bridge distances and to create virtual communities of practitioners, as well as to share resources and provide essential support. With this in mind I invite all those interested to join us in the ICHTM (International Centre for Healthcare Technology Management) initiative. The vision is that of a truly collaborative and appropriate web-based resource centre and meeting place for HTM practitioners. This initiative was approved formally in Chicago at WC2000 and already has a number of strategic partners. We hope to receive substantial funding and other support from outside IFMBE during 2001.

In closing may I add that during the last six years I have come to greatly admire the dedication and efforts of my IFMBE colleagues, all of whom do so voluntarily over-and-above their own demanding jobs. I have also had the opportunity to meet and get to know many of you and this has truly been a rewarding and enriching experience - I look forward to meeting so many more. On a personal note I mentioned in my 1997 introduction that I was enjoying the marvel of a true biomedical engineering creation, my little daughter Katherine (who was three months old when she attended the opening plenary at the Nice World Congress!). Sadly in 1999 she lost her radiant and beloved mother, Helga, whom some of you have met. Perhaps this is the downside to the "engineering of life". Nevertheless I am grateful for the many happy moments that Helga shared with the many people she met via the IFMBE - those memories live on. C'est la vie!

IFMBE Administrative Council members

IFMBE Administrative Council members relaxing at the outdoor symphony concert in Evanston just before the Chicago 2000 World Conference. Persons around the table from left to right: Peter Heiman (only hands showing), Chairman of the Clinical Engineering Division, Alan Murray, Editor of MBEC, Marc Nyssen, AC Member, Mrs Hutten, Helmut Hutten, AC Member, and Mladen Poluta, IFMBE Treasurer (only face showing). Standing in the background Dov Jaron, IFMBE President.