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How Text Messaging Curbs Infant Mortality in Africa’s Biggest Urban Slum
Almost half of Kenyan mothers do not give birth in a hospital and, thus, receive little professional care or education on basics such as how long to breast feed, what to do in the case of diarrhea and vomiting, or where to go for an emergency. In this issue of Digital Diversity, Cayte Bosler looks at an innovative text messaging service which helps parents differentiate between normal behaviors and signs that something might be wrong.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Gates Foundation to Help India’s Payments Banks with Tech, Innovation
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will help newly licensed payment banks in technology sharing and innovation as it expects India to become a global showcase for digital payment systems in the next three to five years, Daniel Radcliffe, senior officer at the financial services for the poor (FSP) programme at the foundation, said in an interview on Friday.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
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Crafting a Public Health Campaign
You never quite know what’s going to fall into your lap in the World Health Organization’s media unit. The Regional Director may need to reshoot a TV spot on the same day that a storm suddenly floods one of the 11 countries you oversee. Figuring out what the various arms of the WHO are doing in response to a situation, and then designing a campaign on the fly?—?it’s like breaking into a sprint at the tenth mile.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Tags
- public health
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World’s Most Sustainable Water Source to Raise $10 Million in California Direct Public Offering
Cutting Edge Capital (CEC), a leading firm helping social ventures and entrepreneurs raise capital, announced today that its client WaterFX Hydro I, Inc., dba HydroRevolution, received regulatory approval for a California limited public securities offering (DPO) to accredited and non-accredited investors in the amount of $10 million. The offering is being listed on CuttingEdgeX, a web-based platform that showcases DPOs for all types of investors. CuttingEdgeX’s Online Investment Tool (OIT) streamlines the investing process by allowing issuers like HydroRevolution to post the offering documents, explain the investment, stay in compliance with the securities laws, and receive commitments from investors, all electronically.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Tags
- impact investing
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5 dengue vaccines in development
Currently, there are no approved vaccines or therapies to prevent dengue infection. The disease, which primarily affects children, is associated with approximately 22,000 deaths annually worldwide, according to the CDC. Infectious Disease News has compiled information on five candidate dengue vaccines in various stages of development.
- Categories
- Health Care
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Indian MFIs Face Legal Hurdles in Plans to Track Borrowers’ Credit Histories Through National IDs
Microfinanciers’ plans to check Aadhaar numbers to ensure potential borrowers aren’t already loaded with loans may come undone after a recent interim ruling by the Supreme Court restricted the use of Aadhaar data to ration shops and cooking gas.
- Categories
- Uncategorized
- Region
- South Asia
- Tags
- lending, microfinance
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West Africa Off-Grid Solar Venture Gets $3.4 Million Investment Boost
Ghana-based pay-as-you-go solar firm PEG has raised GHS13.2 million (US$3.4 million) to expand its presence in the West African country.
- Categories
- Energy
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Mobile Phone Records May Predict Epidemics of Mosquito-Borne Dengue Virus
A new study led by researchers at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health finds that mobile phone records can be used to predict the geographical spread and timing of dengue epidemics. More people around the world are becoming vulnerable to this deadly virus as climate change expands the range of the mosquito that transmits dengue and infected travelers spread the disease across borders. Utilizing the largest data set of mobile phone records ever analyzed to estimate human mobility, the researchers developed an innovative model that can predict epidemics and provide critical early warning to policy makers.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
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