Maternal, Newborn, and Adolescent Health

The proposed novel solution besides targeting "safe delivery" intends to promote "healthy infant" for a healthy childhood. The cost effective, resource independent, foldable and portable, environmentally sustainable (no disposable single use item, zero waste generation and skill independent) kits are based on FDA approved chlorine dioxide sterilizing and releasing platform. It can be effectively used to sterilize all the essentials required for SAFE DELIVERY (i.e. surgical tools, hand gloves, clothing item, scissors and clips).

The team has proposed to develop an intelligent, potable easy to use fetal monitoring system based on the principle of non-invasive fetal ECG analysis and a custom consumable for low skill application of the device The final outcome is a CE certified next-generation fetal monitor and a custom low-cost consumable which can be used by low skill staff in low resource settings.

The team proposed to integrate systems biology based-network reconstruction approaches with quantitative gene expression experiments for the detection of circulating miRNAs as early biomarkers in different neonatal septicemic conditions.

We are working to scale integrated Reproductive Maternal Newborn and Child Health (RMNCH) and Non-Communicable Disease (NCD) services for under-served rural communities where the burden is under-estimated and outcomes are poor. Ubuntu-Afya Medical Centres are unique in their kiosk co-ownership model with target communities and in the incorporation of complementary financial service enterprises, which cross-subsidize the cost of health service.

The innovation that Triggerise India will use to improve sexual, reproductive, and maternal health outcomes among adolescent girls and young women ages 15-24 in India is a motivation platform. Our platform includes two types of infrastructure: technology (people use websites, apps, SMS, and membership cards to engage with our platform) and partners (Triggerise India links service providers, mobilizers, content creators, retailers, and product distributors to provide key offerings).

45% of forty-year-old men in Botswana have HIV, with similarly high rates across East and Southern Africa. Yet over 90% of young girls think these older men are safe. Revealing the risk of these older partners through a simple 1-hour class with dynamic, relatable peer educators is game-changing, empowering girls with life-saving information, after which girls choose to date age-mates instead, where risk of both HIV and pregnancy is dramatically lower.

Healthy Entrepreneurs (HE) deploys a last-mile distribution model to deliver affordable and reliable health products and services to the poorest women and children living in rural areas via a network of trained micro-entrepreneurs. HE’s basket of goods targets the health of children under-5 with products like anti-malaria medications, zinc and oral rehydration salts, as well as addresses the SRHR for females, with items such as sanitary pads, condoms and contraception.

Through a partnership with Grand Challenges Canada, LifeNet will deploy its MNH (Maternal and Newborn Health) Package at 30 Ugandan health facilities while Duke Global Health Institute measures health outcomes, positioning the MNH Package for sustainable funding and preparing it to scale throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Supplemental COVID-19 funding will support COVID-19-related education, enhanced infection control measures and PPE for staff to enable continued treatment of patients in the context of the pandemic.

Thomas Weiser of the Lifebox Foundation in the U.S. will implement their surgical infection prevention program, Clean Cut, in ten maternity hospitals in Ethiopia to reduce infections and other complications of C-sections, which account for around 15% of maternal deaths. To improve the safety of surgery, they developed Clean Cut, which uses training and improved management practices to promote compliance with six key safety standards including sterility of instruments and surgical sites, gowns and gloves, and appropriate use of antibiotics.

Carol Hanna of Oregon Health and Science University in the U.S. will develop an imaging platform using Positron Emission Tomography-Computed Tomography (PET-CT) to visualize the movement of sperm in the female reproductive tract to accelerate testing of non-hormonal contraceptive compounds at lower cost. Emerging research is positioned to discover non-hormonal contraceptive candidates with varying mechanisms of action. However, there is currently no simple or effective way to test them in human-relevant models, which impedes their clinical development.