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The Supply and Demand Dilemma in COVID-19 Vaccine Manufacturing: Could Lessons from the Fashion Industry Provide Ideas for a Solution?
Expanding access to the COVID-19 vaccine is essential to stopping global transmission and halting the emergence of new variants of the virus. But efforts to optimize vaccine manufacturing and distribution have been hampered by multifaceted challenges involving supply and demand. Prashant Yadav at INSEAD, Rebecca Weintraub at Harvard Medical School, and biotech and vaccine industry consultant Tom Johnston explain how solutions to those issues may be found in another sector with volatile product demand and a global manufacturing base: the fashion apparel industry.
- Categories
- Health Care
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Improving COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Around the World: Leveraging Partnerships and Technology to Optimize Medical Supply Chains
Effective vaccine distribution is key to overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic in low- and middle-income countries. Similar vaccination efforts for routine childhood diseases have been widely successful, but targeting an adult population presents unique challenges, say Wade Warren at Deloitte Consulting and Marian W. Wentworth at Management Sciences for Health. They explore four challenges that vaccine distribution efforts will face – and four tried-and-proven ways to improve the process.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care
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Delivering Babies in the Dark: How Solar Systems Can Enhance Health Service Delivery in Rural Medical Facilities
The healthcare systems of vulnerable communities across the globe are being hindered by a lack of electricity, but solar technology can offer solutions, say Tokozile N. Ngwenya and John Keane at SolarAid and Hannah Blair and Siena Hacker at CLASP. They explain how the Efficiency for Access Coalition has partnered with SolarAid to equip rural health facilities in Malawi and Zambia with solar systems, and explore what needs to happen to scale these approaches.
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- Energy, Health Care
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Learning From India: How Low- and Middle-Income Countries Can Scale up Access to Oxygen During a COVID-19 Surge
The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the crucial importance of medical oxygen. And as India has shown, it has also revealed health systems’ limitations in supplying it – and the global supply chain’s inability to respond to the massive need that can arise during a crisis. PATH has worked for the past five years to sustainably improve access to oxygen in low- and middle-income countries. Analysts at the organization explore the current oxygen crisis in India, and share lessons that can help other countries avoid similar shortfalls if they experience their own COVID-19 surges.
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- Coronavirus, Health Care
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Desperate Times, Desperate Measures: A Microfinance Network Responds to the Devastating Reality of COVID-19 in India
The COVID-19 pandemic is taking a disastrous toll in India, with over 27 million confirmed cases and 311,000 reported deaths. In the face of this emergency, Opportunity International is leveraging its network of microfinance partners to provide crucial assistance to hard-hit communities. CEO Atul Tandon explains how the organization is working with microfinance providers to convert their offices into emergency response and triage centers, while educating clients about pandemic-related health risks and providing them with food and supplies.
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- Coronavirus, Finance, Health Care
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Preparing Community Health Workers to Deploy the COVID-19 Vaccine: Five Lessons on Digital Training Learned From the Ebola Crisis
Though COVID-19 deaths continue to rise around the globe, growing access to vaccines provides a ray of hope. As Monica Amponsah, Bobbi Gray and Gigi Gatti at Grameen Foundation explain, community health workers can play a key role in bringing the vaccine to vulnerable communities in the developing world. They discuss the digital solutions Grameen Foundation developed to help community health workers support the Ebola vaccine trials in Sierra Leone, and share five lessons for leveraging mobile tools to help these workers deploy COVID-19 vaccinations.
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- Coronavirus, Health Care, Technology
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Leveraging Tech During the Pandemic: How Apps Can Protect Lives in Developing Countries
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, vulnerable communities in many developing countries are dealing with a lack of accurate information about the virus – and facing the broader challenge of limited healthcare access. Bowen Khong at ForexToStock profiles some organizations that have responded to these challenges with innovative, healthcare-focused apps. He explores how these apps are fighting misinformation and connecting people in hard-hit communities to the care they need, and explains why impact investors should keep a close eye on these health tech solutions.
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- Coronavirus, Education, Health Care, Technology
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The COVID-19 Effect: Why Latin America Needs a Workplace Wellness Revolution – and How Technology Can Enable It
Remote work is growing in Latin America, as it is around the globe, and the COVID-19 crisis has accelerated this shift. But as Greg Mitchell of Angel Ventures explains, working from home combined with the stressors of the pandemic is causing increased anxiety and burnout for workers. He shares how many companies in the region are adopting digital solutions to support employee mental health — from on-demand counseling and monitoring services to apps and chatbots — and discusses the market potential for this burgeoning solution.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care, Technology
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