It’s ‘Shark Tank’ For Global Health Inventions
Monday, August 6, 2018
By Vicky Hallett
What would happen if global health innovators appeared on “Shark Tank,” the reality TV show that judges business concepts from straightforward to zany?
It’d probably look a bit like the pitch competition the late July DevelopmentXChange conference in Washington, D.C. The event was organized by Saving Lives At Birth: A Grand Challenge For Development, a program that gives out grants to projects helping to improve medical care for moms and babies in low-income settings. It’s funded by groups like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the U.S. and U.K. government. (Note: As readers of Goats and Soda may know, the Gates Foundation is also a funder of this blog and of NPR.)
The ten participants showcased a variety of innovations, each in different stages of development: medical devices that can work without electricity, new ways to administer medications and high-tech strategies to give women timely medical advice. All have previously received anywhere from $250,000 to $2 million from the program.
Photo courtesy of Chris Potter.
Source: NPR (link opens in a new window)
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