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IMF Lending Conditions Curb Healthcare Investment in West Africa, Study Finds
A new study suggests that lending conditions imposed by the International Monetary Fund in West Africa squeeze "fiscal space" in nations such as Sierra Leone - preventing government investment in health systems and, in some cases, contributing to an exodus of medical talent from countries that need it most.
- Categories
- Health Care, Investing
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Letter From India: How Poop is Becoming Big Business for Small Companies
I was in Mumbai, making a long commute across town after a week full of events and conferences. When we arrived in South Bombay, my taxi driver slowed down to point out a nearby slum, dangerously perched on one of the slopes of Malabar Hills—Mumbai’s most upscale and expensive property. I could see a few narrow lanes crowded with women washing clothes, utensils, open drains with children squatting over them—a loose tap with gushing neon blue water—and the overwhelming stench of feces.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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Social Business Roundup: Building Our Immunity to Anti-Vaxxers, Solar Loans With a Side of Health, and SRI Goes Robo
There’s a crisis of trust in the world, some of it well earned – and some, like skepticism about vaccines, completely unwarranted. We cover an alarming uptick in the anti-vax movement's profile, an effort to pair solar loans with health care in Ghana, and the emergence of "robo-SRI" in this news roundup.
- Categories
- Energy, Health Care, Investing, Social Enterprise, Technology
- Tags
- ESG, impact investing, solar, vaccines
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Lack of money forces closure of 11 UN health clinics in Sudan
Eleven health facilities in Sudan, funded by the UN and serving people displaced by conflict in the region, have been forced to close due to lack of money. Funding shortfalls also threaten the closure of a further 49 clinics in Darfur, South Kordofan and Blue Nile states, with $7m (£5.69m) required to keep the facilities open for another year, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- North Africa & Near East
- Tags
- public health
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Arclight device ‘could save sight of millions’
The Arclight, a cheap, solar-powered ophthalmoscope, was designed by researchers at St Andrews University. It is aimed at helping health workers in poorer countries to detect the signs of blindness.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Europe & Eurasia
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Expanding Access to HIV Self-Testing
PSI just launched the report “Expanding Access to HIV Self-Testing: A Market Development Approach.” This report is the result of the exciting work PSI is doing to understand and develop the HIV self-testing (HIVST) market.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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80 per cent of all smokers live in low and middle-income countries, India one among it: WHO
NEW DELHI: Nearly 80 per cent of the over one billion tobacco smokers globally live in low- and middle-income countries like India, WHO said today and asserted that policies to control its use, including taxation and price increase, can generate revenues for health care and development work.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- public policy
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This 20-cent whirligig toy can replace a $1,000 medical centrifuge
Centrifuges, which separate materials in fluids by spinning them at great speed, are found in medical labs worldwide. But a good one could run you a couple grand and, of course, requires electricity — neither of which are things you’re likely to find in a rural clinic in an impoverished country.
- Categories
- Health Care
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