One of the biggest problems faced by developing countries in handling the pandemic has been shortages of equipment and supplies for diagnostic testing of the population suspected of infection; for treating patients with the most severe infections; and for protecting healthcare workers. As the number of Covid-19 cases has increased, countries are demanding more medical equipment and supplies, which are also key to moving beyond confinement measures and reopening economies. But because Latin America and the Caribbean does not specialize in producing them, it is desperately trying to import supplies in greater amounts. Under normal circumstances, this would not be a problem. But with the coronavirus, all the countries of the world are dealing with the pandemic at more or less the same time. The sudden increase in global demand for medical equipment and supplies has led to severe shortages in markets for these products. Further complicating things, several of the countries that produce them have restricted exports or implemented regulatory barriers that further limit the access of nonproducing countries to these critical supplies. 
And this problem is not limited strictly to developing countries. Even countries like the United States are facing shortages in these products, everything from sophisticated equipment like mechanical ventilators, to inputs as simple as surgical masks and nasal swabs for collecting samples. But when competing for these scarce resources, developed countries have more firepower, which further limits developing countries’ access to these critical supplies. So what can be done? If you can\'t import them, make them! Several countries in the region have responded to this problem by stimulating domestic production of this equipment and supplies. The IDB, together with IDB Lab—the IDB Group’s innovation laboratory—are actively participating in supporting countries in this effort, including with a publication offering public policy recommendations to foment innovation ecosystems to find solutions to the pandemic. The region has many success stories that can offer a way forward. One common element in the majority of these success stories is the capacity to coordinate different actors—both public and private—that until now have not always worked in close collaboration. On the public side, this involves officials and agencies focused on health as well as science, technology, and innovation. On the private side, it includes the startup community and the scientific community, which can produce prototypes and other solutions needed to fight the virus, as well as manufacturing companies that have the capacity to scale them up. The remainder of this post looks at a few successful initiatives.
A breather for Chile
Like almost everywhere around the world, in Chile, there was significant concern over the possibility of not having enough ventilators to handle the peak of the pandemic. In a context in which producer countries were limiting exports, a number of groups began working to develop ventilators domestically, using open-source designs (like MIT’s) or their own designs. But how could they make sure the ventilators would meet the requirements of their use rs, the community of intensive care physicians? How could users be ensured access to the different prototypes to choose the bes t solutions? How could production at sufficient scale in Chile be guaranteed?
In this context, the IDB, along with the Ministry of Science and Technology and SOFOFA (Chile’s most important business association), teamed up with Social Lab, an institution that specialized in providing platforms for innovation competitions. Together, they issued a challenge: produce ventilators in Chile within a very short period of time. One week later, they had received 35 proposals, with varying degrees of development. A group of evaluators/mentors was set up, including intensive care physicians, engineers with experience developing equipment, and manufacturing specialists. The idea was to evaluate the proposals based on three viability criteria: medical (do they meet the requirements of the intensive care physicians?); engineering (can they be produced with parts and pieces available in Chile?); and manufacturing viability (can industry scale up production economically by modifying production processes?). After a round of feedback to the project teams, in which the evaluators suggested needed adjustments, the proposals were ranked, also using a series of requirements issued by the Chilean Society of Intensive Medicine. Only three weeks after the call for proposals, the first five prototypes are already undergoing clinical trials. Both the Chilean Production Development Corporation (CORFO, which joined the effort) and SOFOFA have resources available to finance the scale-up of the ventilators that pass this stage.