Knowledge Generation

To increase health-system capacity to prevent newborn deaths using evidence-based measures, Partners In Health has developed the All Babies Count (ABC) model, an intensive 18-month change acceleration process. The ABC model - instead of focusing on a single change strategy - creates sustainable impact by re-orienting the culture of the health system to continuous quality improvement (QI).

This project will prevent neural tube defects in Nicaragua through fortification of rice - a staple food - with folic acid. We will support twelve early adopter rice mills that collectively produce 60% of rice in Nicaragua with training and equipment to enable local production of fortified rice, as well as a comprehensive branding campaign to promote the purchase and consumption of fortified rice. By establishing high consumer demand, high acceptability, and relatively low costs, the program will harvest market forces to drive sustainable production and consumption of fortified rice.

We propose to further empower Islamic scholars to enlighten health providers at service delivery points in 5 resistant communities with low uptake on the correct Islamic precepts on MNCH. This project will contribute to improved health seeking behaviors of men and women of reproductive age; increased uptake of services in primary health facilities; improved capacity of health providers to counter negative perceptions of modern MNCH services; improved immunization coverage; improved uptake of modern family planning methods of the 5 communities.

Lactoferrin, a safe, naturally occurring iron-binding protein found in high concentration in breast milk, offers an exciting new approach to correct iron deficiency early in pregnancy, prevent low birth weight, preterm delivery and reduce neonatal deaths. It has few side effects, facilitates absorption of iron, and reduces maternal inflammation to enhance the utilization of iron giving it the potential to rapidly restore iron status in pregnant women, even in populations with high burdens of infectious diseases.

Our Transition to Scale proposal will provide the ESM-Ketamine package to 34 health facilities (covering a catchment area of nearly 6 million people). The package includes: an ESM-Ketamine kit, and a one-week training program for providers that covers basic pharmacology, appropriate monitoring, Helping Babies Breathe, wall charts and checklists, and case-based learning. The adoption of ESM-Ketamine in Kenya will avert many maternal and neonatal deaths.

Monash is seeking to develop an affordable heat-stable, self-contained, simple to administer inhaled delivery system for oxytocin. Such a product removes the challenges associated with access and use of the current oxytocin product and has the potential to ensure that a high-quality oxytocin product is accessible to women with greatest need. The project is innovative as it would, for the first time, provide an effective oxytocin product that does not rely on cold chain supply and storage to maintain quality or the presence of healthcare workers trained to safely administer injections.

Guatemala has one of the highest national maternal mortality ratios in Latin America at 149 per 100,000 live births, and up to 260 per 100,000 in some northern departments. Only 31% of deliveries are attended by a skilled birth attendant. We propose to scale up an already tested innovative strategy, combining technology, service delivery, and demand creation approaches.

To increase demand for and access to quality maternal and neonatal services for women living in hard to reach areas of Senegal, Africare is proposing to develop an innovative model that integrates community based support services (Maternal Care Support Groups/MCSG) with mobile and telemedicine platforms. This innovative technology platform, combined with community services, will bring prenatal care services closer to 303,920 women in rural Senegal, allowing for early detection of potential problems and their quick referral to centers equipped to manage emergency obstetric care.

Vitamin A deficiency (VAD) is a major problem in the developing world that disproportionately affects pregnant women, children, and infants. Vitamin A's role in development and immunity make it critically important to natal/neonatal health. Fermented dairy products, particularly yogurt, are traditionally made by women using small-scale fermentations, often on a per-household basis. In all fermentations, local strains of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) have been utilized for generations as yogurt starter cultures, continuously cultured by a process called back-slopping.

Urgent shortages of medicines in low-income countries lead to millions of unnecessary deaths at birth every year. One pervasive challenge causing such shortages is how to move the right commodities to the right place on time and at cost. We propose to develop an open-source distribution management system which leverages our existing real-time dataset of stock transactions at thousands of facilities in Africa to drive automated improvements in practice.