-
Eye-phone set to revolutionise African optical care
An impressive new mobile phone app is being tested in Kenya. It acts as a mobile visual clinic, and is set to revolutionise eye care in Africa.According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), nearly 300 million people are blind or seriously visually impaired.But a team of doctors from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine armed with an innovative, low cost, smartphone solution, have set out to make an impact on this community.
- Categories
- Health Care, Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
- Tags
- public health
-
Fighting Poverty, and Critics
Nina Munk’s new book, “The Idealist,” is about the well-known economist Jeffrey Sachs and his “quest to end poverty,” as the subtitle puts it. I know: That subtitle sounds like classic book-industry hyperbole, but, in this case, it’s not. That really is what Sachs has been trying to do. The question of whether or not he is succeeding is where things get tricky.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
-
Impact Investing 2.0 — What $3 Billion Tells Us About the Next $300 Billion
There's an impression that the ongoing effort to use investment dollars to achieve both financial and social returns is elusive, with no coherent core of best practice. This is simply not the case.
- Categories
- Impact Assessment
- Tags
- impact investing
-
Mortality rate in Latin America and Caribbean drops
With the exception of young men, most people in Latin America and the Caribbean are living much longer today than 40 years ago. The mortality rate has dropped by at least 80 percent for children 4 years old or younger and by more than 50 percent for women between the ages of 20 and 44. For men between the ages of 15 and 19, however, the mortality rate has increased by 1 percent, largely due to deaths from road injuries and rising violence.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Latin America
-
Impact Investment Exchange Asia invests in Indian Social Enterprise Spring Health
Singapore based Impact Investment Exchange Asia (IIX) has announced today that its Impact Partners platform has successfully facilitated an investment from two private investors, alongside lead investors from the Artha initiative and the Stone Family Foundation, into Spring Health Water (India) Pte. Ltd., a for-profit Social Enterprise that provides safe and affordable drinking water to rural customers in India.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
-
India’s government hails interventions for reducing maternal deaths
According to the Indian minister of health and family welfare, "various interventions" spearheaded by the country's government have contributed to a successful reduction in maternal mortality over the last 12 years.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Tags
- public health
-
ADB, Gates Foundation Partner for Sanitation Innovation in Asia
As the world’s most populous region continues to grow, innovative solutions to sanitation are more needed than even before in Asia, where many governments still don’t see this Millennium Development Goal as a priority.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Asia Pacific
-
Kenya: Are Bitcoins the Future of Mobile Money?
The use of the virtual currency Bitcoins could change the way money flows in Kenya. But it hasn't caught on just yet.
- Categories
- Technology
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
Subscribe to Our Weekly Newsletter, "NextBillion Notes"
Published each Wednesday, our e-newsletter features NextBillion's latest original articles, along with a selection of news, jobs, bizdev opportunities and events from our recent coverage — and regular conference ticket giveaways.
We respect your privacy. Your information is safe and will never be shared.
Don't miss out. Subscribe today.