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The Donor-Funded Dilemma: What’s Stopping Emerging Countries from Developing Private Markets for Contraceptives?
In sub-Saharan Africa, the private sector provides family planning solutions to almost 40 percent of women. But that isn’t the case in Malawi, a country that’s long been dominated by donor-funded commodities. Erika Beidelman and Andrea Bare at the William Davidson Institute explore Malawi's family planning landscape, highlighting five factors that may be limiting the private sector’s involvement – issues that may apply to other countries with histories of donor-funded healthcare.
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- Health Care
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Africa’s secret weapon for economic growth and global development
Evidence shows that family planning is essential to lower maternal and infant mortality. Although both have decreased in the past decades, still today over 300,000 women and girls die in childbirth or from pregnancy-related complications, including unsafe abortions.
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- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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Using Mobile Technology to Fight Disease: Three Tips for Social Startups in the Developing World
In a world where nearly half of the population is too poor to access essential health services, preventable diseases still claim countless lives. Malaria alone is responsible for over 1 million deaths each year, and sickle cell disease also affects millions across the globe. But these diseases can be significantly helped with early diagnosis and cost-effective treatments, says Hemex Health co-founder Patti White. She explores the innovative technology Hemex has developed to address this issue – and highlights three elements of its approach that can help other social enterprises gain traction in the crowded startup space.
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- Entrepreneurship, Health Care
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How Bill Gates, a valley full of snakes and one entrepreneur took on a deadly disease
The vaccine has made waves as a case study for global health solutions created in and by developing countries, with help from a network of international powers. It’s also getting attention for its incredibly low price: just $1 a dose.
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- Health Care
- Region
- South Asia
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A C-Section Should Not Be a Privilege: Expanding Access to Life-Saving Maternal Care
For every 100,000 live births, 814 women die in Nigeria, 725 die in Liberia, and 443 die in Zimbabwe. (For comparison, the U.S. has the highest maternal mortality rates in the developed world at 26.4). One major reason is limited access to C-sections – a persistent problem in low-resource settings, where health systems often lack the people, supplies and infrastructure to perform the procedure safely. Erin Barringer and Erastus Maina at Safe Surgery 2020 discuss this challenge, and how their partnership is successfully addressing it in remote parts of Ethiopia and Tanzania.
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- Health Care
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Symbiotic and Strategic: Why Businesses Should Embrace Nonprofit Partnerships
Imagine losing your sight. Now imagine losing your sight in one of the poorest regions in the world. With few quality eye doctors, hospitals or clinics, your chances of getting quality care would be small, and your opportunities to get an education or earn a steady income would slowly evaporate. Orbis CEO Bob Ranck explores how for-profit partners are helping his nonprofit tackle this issue - and why this sort of partnership makes good economic and business sense for both sides.
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- Health Care
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Whatever Happened To … The Car Mechanic Who Invented A Device To Pop Out A Baby?
In 2013, NPR reported on an improbable inventor: Jorge Odon, a middle-aged car mechanic who — inspired by watching a stupid party trick — designed a medical device that could revolutionize childbirth. Here's how we described it: "The Odon Device ... guides a folded plastic sleeve around the baby's head. A little bit of air is then pumped between the two plastic layers, cushioning the baby's head and allowing it to be sucked out."
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- Entrepreneurship, Health Care
- Region
- Latin America
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New partnership to provide vaccine access to 8 million people in Liberia, Uganda and Kenya
The health workers will be equipped with smartphones that can capture the immunisation status of every child in real time with a time-stamped GPS identifier, send automated vaccination reminders by SMS and use real-time data to help pinpoint and close immunisation gaps.
- Categories
- Health Care
- Region
- Sub-Saharan Africa
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