Institutional Stove Autoclave

A significant contributor to the spread of disease and infection in Third World medical facilities is the lack of a safe, reliable, and cost effective means to sterilize medical instruments and dressings.The institutional stove autoclave feature addresses this problem.

Half the world population lives in developing countries, which are served by hospitals and clinics that struggle to keep up with modern medical standards due to economic issues.  In those regions, 5 to 19 percent of hospitalized patients get an infection at the hospital sometime during their stay. In comparison, less than 3 percent of US hospital patients are infected during treatment. Neonatal infections are 3 to 20 times higher in developing countries than in the West.

Some hospitals and clinics may be in possession of a modern autoclave but are unable to operate it on predictable schedules. Electricity is often unreliable or unavailable. The Aprovecho Institutional Stove/ Autoclave Ensemble can be used either as a primary system for rural clinics without electricity, or as a backup system for hospitals and larger facilities.

From a cold start, the ensemble completes a full sterilization cycle in less than an hour and requires less than 900 grams of biomass fuel, eliminating completely expensive fossil fuel alternatives. The procedure is a simple operation and training for the technician is minimal.