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What Does a COVID-19 Response Look Like With Limited Water?
In the past week, the virus has spread exponentially, beginning to take root in countries with weaker health systems — and where populations have limited access to water. Globally, 3 billion people lack access to basic hand-washing facilities.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, WASH
- Tags
- public health
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Data Mapping Key to Track Disease Spread and Plug Health Gaps, Experts Say
“It sounds almost obvious, but we can’t get a health worker in a community if we don’t know that community exists,” said Avi Kenny, former director of research, monitoring, and evaluation at nonprofit organization Last Mile Health, adding that census data in low- and middle-income countries is often not that good.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care, Technology
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Covid-19 attack limits MFI outreach
Microfinance firms are slowing down new loan disbursements in the country’s rural heartland as a direct fallout of the coronavirus outbreak. They are also facing non-repayment from borrowers whose earnings may take a hit as the country goes into lockdown to combat the spread of coronavirus.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
- Tags
- microfinance
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54gene’s Fund to increase coronavirus testing in Nigeria hits $500,000 in 24hrs
54gene, the African genomics research, services, and development company, has launched a fund to tackle the current challenges around testing for COVID-19 in Nigeria. To support the ongoing efforts of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control [NCDC], 54gene opened the fund by donating $150,000 and within 24 hours of launch, had already secured an additional $350,000 from partners including Union Bank. The money raised will help increase COVID-19 testing capacity in the country by up to 1,000 additional tests a day, by buying testing instruments and the required biosafety materials such as biosafety cabinets and personal protective equipment needed to keep frontline healthcare workers safe.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care, Investing, Technology
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This Virus Is Ravaging Rich Countries. What Happens When It Hits the Poor Ones?
The ebola epidemic of 2014 is still fresh in the mind in sub-Saharan African countries; it was an experience that showed prevention and containment are the only hope of fending off thousands of deaths.
- Categories
- Coronavirus
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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How Bridge Loans Can Aid Nonprofits and Social Enterprises Through the Covid-19 Crisis
“We sometimes refer to our work as the everyday emergency room of impact—our borrowers are coming to us during a time of crisis when something outside their control has gone wrong,” says Maya Winkelstein, chief executive officer of Open Road Alliance, a philanthropic initiative based in New York.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance
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Will the Coronavirus Pandemic Push Africa’s Mobile Money Markets to the Next Level?
Kenya is arguably the world's top mobile money market, and one reason for its success is that a “trigger” event – the post-election violence of 2008 – forced the rapid, large-scale adoption of mobile payment services. Jill Lagos Shemin explores how the unique demands of the coronavirus pandemic could prove to be a similar catalyst for mobile money growth in other countries, and how providers and other stakeholders can build upon this momentum to create more inclusive digital ecosystems for underserved customers.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Finance, Technology
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WHO Launches Global Health Alert for Coronavirus on WhatsApp
The services uses an AI chatbot to provide updated information on the pandemic, including how to protect yourself, questions and answers, and the latest news and press coverage.
- Categories
- Coronavirus, Health Care, Technology
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