LivinginPeru.com - The 2010 MYPE President Prize was awarded to Gary Urteaga, CEO of Equipar Medical SAC, for his work with hyperbaric chambers in Peru. The prize is the highest recognition of entrepreneurship by the Peruvian government, given by President Alan Garcia at the Presidential Palace.
Urteaga began collaborating with Life Support Technologies Inc. of New York for the research, design and local manufacture of hyperbaric chambers in Peru. A hyperbaric chamber is used for severe pathologies including chronic wounds and infections, carbon monoxide and toxic poisoning, neurological damage and decompression sickness.
In December 2009, Urteaga and Glenn Butler, CEO of Life Support Technologies, installed the most modern hyperbaric chamber in Peru at the Peruvian-Japanese Clinic Centenario. They co-organized the 1st International Congress on Hyperbaric Medicine with the Ministry of Health of Peru and the Colegio Medico del Peru.
Hyperbaric medicine has become an important remedy in Andean tourism in Peru, particularly as hundreds of visitors to the highlands of Cusco and Puno develop severe altitude sickness and related complications, all of which can be treated successfully with hyperbaric oxygen. Hyperbaric oxygen is a potent antibiotic which floods the blood stream, reaching all tissues and inducing various physiological effects which accelerate angiogenesis, wound healing and detoxification mechanisms.
Gary Urteaga, middle, with colleagues from Life Support Technologies Inc. next to a hyperbaric chamber.
The 2nd International Congress on Hyperbaric Medicine will take place in November in Cusco, and will present case studies and applications of hyperbaric medicine on severe altitude sickness (locally known as soroche) and migraines to the international scientific community.
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The MYPE President Prize is awarded on demonstrated merits on innovation, vision of the future, social responsibility and the adoption of association strategies in its business model. The prize is administered by the Ministry of Production of Peru and includes of a business trip in Latin America to visit and share successful experiences with other companies in the same sector in the region.
Gary Urtega is an entrepreneur and co-founder of empresabio.com, a matchmaking tool for business opportunities and venture capital. During preliminary beta testing of empresabio.com, Urteaga formulated the project for the implementation of the Hyperbaric Medicine Unit at Centenario Clinic and within 15 days of online promotion, the platform helped him in securing an investor and business partner for an investment worth US $100,000.
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