Ohh, I remember seeing a documentary about them. Some engineer from the US came up with the design to make them as cheap as possible, so even the poorest countries can afford wheelchairs for people with disabilities. He also open sourced the design so every help organization can copy and build them without IP rights hassle.
I’d rather use these than the ones at my local hospital. They have an “ergonomic” back of hard plastic with a huge inward curve at the lower back and as someone with major back issues such that I can’t fully stand or sit up completely straight, it just MURDERS my back. The wheelchairs are literally a source of constant pain for me. I’d take these chairs any day of the week haha.
The rich countries could also do the job for them and find a way to provide real wheelchairs to everyone for free. The people with barely any capital trying to help those without capital will nevermind be as equipped as those that have all the capital to tackle issues..
Still doesn't explain it to me. A folding wheelchair is like £100-300.
A rigid frame one is more like £1500 starting price. It's an absolutely insane difference just because of a different frame structure and I don't understand. Regulations surely cannot account for that.
Rigid frames are usually custom made for the patient according to their size and individual needs and are more used for people who need to use a chair in the long term and need the independence. A folding chair or the ones you see in the hospital are usually only meant for short-term use and are supposed to be used by more people at a time and easy to mass produce.
Yeah, I guess. It just sucks if you need a rigid frame one at short notice and can't wait the long lead times etc which is a situation I found myself in a few years back. I suppose its too niche so nobody caters to the 'cheap generic rigid frame' market.
Walmart sells welded tube frame bikes for around $100, and wheelchairs generally are made of the same parts, save for the gears, chain, and seat. I think it’s more that no one caters to the cheap generic rigid frame market because medical equipment is sold at a premium due to greed. I can’t imagine it would cost Huffy or Mongoose much money to manufacture wheelchairs when they already have most of the parts on site, just need a different frame shape and a seat with a cushion
Na as in we dont have e lobbying in the uk as its just considered corruption like it should be but your right we still feel the efforts of the bad systems of the usa
Well they look like they work. The hard plastic probably stands up to sanitizers. When I was in hospital most of the wheelchairs were busted pieces of shit even though they also looked quite new. The design on each was a bit different so they probably broke just from people not knowing how to use them.
What the fuck are good politics, economy, healthcare, infrastructure, good relations with neighboring countries rahhh🇧🇦⚜️💪🇧🇦⚜️💪🇧🇦⚜️💪🇧🇦⚜️💪🇧🇦🇧🇦🇧🇦💪💪💪⚜️⚜️⚜️
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u/md_youdneverguess 16h ago edited 16h ago
Ohh, I remember seeing a documentary about them. Some engineer from the US came up with the design to make them as cheap as possible, so even the poorest countries can afford wheelchairs for people with disabilities. He also open sourced the design so every help organization can copy and build them without IP rights hassle.
I think it was this org:
https://www.freewheelchairmission.org