Kopernik: Connecting Innovative Technologies with Poor Communities
We are lucky to have a guest post today by Ewa and people like her in general who are doing what they can for global health. She and her team have just launched a new web platform connecting you with poor communities and technologies that might be needed there via an online store. I cannot emphasize enough that is this is long long overdue and that we should all be embarrassed that this hasn’t happened before. So major kudos to Ewa and her team for pulling this platform together and giving it a shot. Please visit their website and spread the word (you can also read there Tech for development blog here):

Guest Post by Ewa Wojkowska, a former UN worker, is the co-founder of TheKopernik.org.
As the rubble is cleared in Haiti, as a measure of stability comes to Sudan, as Sri Lanka holds a bitter peace and as Burundi faces its first election in the wake of massive civil war, a new development opportunity presents in some of the world’s poorest and most troubled places.

Online social entrepreneurship for the poor is one of the most compelling ways to fight poverty—and to reshape our development practices. Examples like Kiva and Global Giving are already leading the way, linking people anywhere in the world to better assistance and real results. The internet has created the opportunity for a transparent virtual marketplace: communities in developing countries identify their local needs, individuals anywhere in the world directly respond. Today our site—www.thekopernik.org—joins the force, connecting breakthrough technology to the poor through an online marketplace. It’s a simple, direct idea for real assistance to people in need.

Here’s our idea: Registered local organizations provide short proposals explaining their needs—simple water filtration in Freetown, Sierra Leone, self-adjusting eyeglasses in Manado, Indonesia. Any visitor to the site, anywhere in the world, can review the proposals and make donations to fund the plan of his or her choice. We connect these breakthrough technologies—water filters and drums, self-adjusting eye glasses, and solar lights, just to name a few—to the people who need them most.

What sets us apart is the focus on technology and a review mechanism for local organizations, or ‘technology seekers’, to rate the products. By including a feedback mechanism on the effectiveness of these technologies, Kopernik gives voice and choice to local communities and organizations – simple elements that are so frequently missed in international development efforts. We’re looking to take out the delays and to spark new ideas in international aid, one click at a time.We believe this is the new face of development.

If more people everywhere have safe, unfettered access to clean water, more efficient means of transporting that water, clear eyesight, and reliable light, how would their choices change? How would they see the world and their place in it? What could their empowerment achieve?

We now have the technology to improve everyone’s lives, and the internet is the window to get these life-changing technologies into people’s hands, directly and efficiently. We’re building a resource that those in need can access for themselves.

Ewa Wojkowska, a former UN worker, is the co-founder of Kopernik.org. The website launched this past week.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Kopernik Sells Technology To The Developing World (techstartups.com)
• Sierra Leone link to India medics (news.bbc.co.uk)

Big congratulations to our friend José Gómez-Márquez (who blogs at Little Devices that Could) for a well deserved award – MIT Tech Review’s Humanitarian of the Year, part of 2009 Young Innovators under 35. Go right now and read the full article (1st para excerpt below):

“José Gómez-Márquez’s lab at MIT seems to be part toy store, part machine shop, and part medical cente­r. Plastic toys are scattered across the bench tops, along with a disassembled drugstore pregnancy test, all manner of syringes, and a slew of fake body parts. Coffee filters have been transformed into paper-based diagnostics; a dime-store helicopter provides the design for a new asthma inhaler; even a toilet plunger has been put to use, rigged with tubes and glue to form a makeshift centrifuge.”

Related post: 7 Steps for Building Low Cost Technologies for Global Health

I just discovered an interesting blog: healthcare + design and they had this post up on design excellence awards. Not sure how much this Breath Counter costs, but worth investigating further:

“Fighting Pneumonia: Breath Counter The Breath Counter is a simple, effective testing device to help detect pneumonia in children under five, living in remote areas in developing countries. Pneumonia is the number one cause of death in the under five worldwide, killing an average of two million each year. The disease is diagnosed by counting the number of breaths taken by the patient in one minute, as those infected will have a much higher count than healthy children. But despite the relative simplicity of detection, the current timing device distributed by NGOs is too basic and unreliable.  Philips Design has created a reliable, easy to use solution that addresses the problems identified by the NGOs in the field. Powered by solar cells, the Breath Counters lifespan is potentally five years longer than what is currently available. An LED screen logs three test results, making them easy to compare. Aesthetically, the Breath Counter looks like a medical tool, to give the user a feeling of commitment and contribution to this important issue. For users who cannot read, Philips Design created a simple manual with clear visuals that explain the procedure.”

Philanthropy by Design
“The Breath Counter was created within Philips Design’s Philanthropy by Design program, established in 2005 in which, together with partners such as Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), public bodies and social players with complementary expertise and values, Philips Design donates its creative expertise and socio-cultural knowledge to create solutions to improve the health and environment of the more fragile categories of the world’s developing societies.”

This will be my  last post from the Global Health Council conference, but likely not the last from our team. This one is from a morning session I attended “Postpartum Hemorrhage: New Findings and Innovative Technologies” (session F4). From the conference website:

Presenters Discuss: possible risk factors for postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) and the impact of active management of the third stage of labor and its components on postpartum blood loss (Global: Egypt, Ecuador, Turkey, Burkina Faso and Turkey); a demonstration project to assess feasibility, acceptability, and safety of oxytocin in Uniject as a first step to introducing the device on a national scale, and strategies for scaling up use of oxytocin-Uniject™ devices with time-temperature indicator (TTI) for the prevention of PPH (Mali); techniques for estimating blood loss for the early and accurate diagnosis of PPH and cost-effective and reliable techniques for improved blood loss estimation in rural settings (India, Tanzania) and the importance of obstetric hemorrhage as a cause of maternal mortality and morbidity in low-resource settings, the potential contribution of the non-pneumatic anti-shock harment (NASG) to reducing death and disability from obstetric hemorrhage (Nigeria). 

The session was moderated by Suellen Miller of UCSF – who works on NASG among other projects. The panelists, in order of presentation:

• Jill Durocher – Gynuity Health Projects, Determinants of Postpartum Hemorrhage [AMTSL]
• Stacie Geller, PhD – University of Illinois-Chicago, Accessible Techniques for Improved Estimation of Blood Loss [blood drape]
• Dosu Ojengbede – University College Hospital, Ibadan, Nigeria, Non-pneumatic Anti-shock Garment’s Potential for Obstetric Hemorrhage in Africa for Improved Estimation of Blood Loss [NASG]
• Susheela Engelbrecht, CNM – PATH, Implementation Challenges on a Larger Scale [Uniject+oxytocin]

If you think you don’t know enough about PPH, check out this wikipedia entry.

By this point in the conference, I’m sure I’ve exposed my biases- I’m interested in exploring themes across projects, with a particular emphasis on opportunities for innovation. This session was no different. Two key themes emerged: (1) these innovations are not magic bullets – larger supporting systems need to be in place for them to be effective, and (2) there are opportunities for improving outcomes by improving the usability of these products.

No magic bullets

Susheela Engelbrecht’s wording in reference to Uniject syringes preloaded with oxytocin was a bit different: “It is a magic bullet, but many other things need to be in place”. With the NASG, the technology buys critical time but is not a “definitive treatment” alone – it still requires patient monitoring, for which appropriate staffing and essential drugs are essential. The multi-country AMTSL (active management of the third stage of labor) study suggests that steps such as controlled cord contraction and fundal massage are only effective in the context of uterotonic drug administration.

Improving usability

The technological innovations presented all show significant promise. The Nigeria study, using a pre/post intervention design, showed a reduction in blood loss of 61% and a reduction in mortality of 60%. The morbidity numbers were too small to make any inferences. A randomized controlled trial showed that, compared to a gold standard measure, the blood drape (Geller) was 33% more accurate than visual estimation.

Uterotonic drugs were shown to play a critical role in AMTSL and the Uniject+oxytocin solution allows administration at the point-of-care to avoid many of the pitfalls associated with ampoule+oxytocin+syringe administration; however, there are some outstanding issues with cost and policy:

• cost: the Uniject solution will “always” be more expensive, currently a bit less than US$1 based on an Argentine formulation
• policy: at what levels of the health system should this be used? should it be used only for AMTSL or also for PPH?

As we begin to move toward scaling these technologies, it will be important to understand how people will use (and misuse) these technologies in environments that are not subject to the scrutiny of research studies.

Some notes I jotted down about usability innovations and challenges from the talks:

• The blood drape had the unanticipated benefit of keeping things clean (containing blood), from the perspectives of women, birth attendants, and families
• The original blood drape showed quantities (cc) of blood using a numerical scale, but a later version simply used a yellow line (alert) and red line (action) to identify risk level
• For the blood drape, the alert and action values were not based on WHO standards, which are designed for equipped, clinical settings, but were calibrated based on data from deliveries in rural India (e.g. WHO standard was 500cc for alert, and the value used with the blood drape was 350cc)
• Birth attendants and families using the blood drape for home deliveries on the floor came up with the idea of propping up the mother’s head with a dupatta to encourage the blood to flow into the drape
• The blood drape must be placed under the women after birth, so that it doesn’t accumulate amniotic fluid (this is after all postpartum hemorrhaging)
• With NASG the challenges include washing (decontaminating), drying, and folding – if this isn’t done in time, the benefit of the garment may be lost for the next patient – whether it is sent somewhere for decontamination or if it is done locally
• The Uniject+oxytocin solution requires more space in the cold chain since the syringe and packaging takes up more space than standard ampoules for the same volume
• With Uniject+oxytocin, some women though they were receiving a contraceptive injection against their will since their prior experience with pre-loaded syringes was with Depo-Provera
• “Training was a non-issue” with Uniject+oxytocin. Those who read the instructions felt as comfortable as those who were trained by demonstration.

During the Q&A there was one more. Professor Ojengbede mentioned a case where a woman wore the NASG for four days in order to wait for a blood transfusion. As soon as the bleeding stopped, she continued to wear the garment and walked around the ward. In response to a question about complications from wearing such a garment, the team indicated that there were no cases of deep vein thrombosis or pulmonary embolism. Note: the Nigeria study will soon be published in the Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Forum 2009
Innovating for the health of all
Innovando para la salud de todos
Havana, Cuba, 16-20 November 2009

Registration here

The letter:

Dear colleague,

Forum 2009: Innovating for the Health of All is this year’s milestone event in research and innovation for health. Organized by the Global Forum for Health Research, it will take place from 16-20 November in Havana, Cuba, at the invitation of the Ministry of Public Health.

What exactly is “innovation”?* How can decision-makers and practitioners work together to foster innovation for health and health equity? What can we learn from innovation policies and initiatives around the world? These questions will be answered in Forum 2009‘s interwoven discussions of social innovation and technological innovation.

This event will bring together some 800 leaders and experts from around the world to share ideas and forge new partnerships. It will include a unique mix of stakeholders from health and science ministries, research agencies and institutions, development agencies, foundations, nongovernmental organizations, civil society, the private sector and media.

As you expand your networks, you will also be able to learn from discussions on social entrepreneurship for health, public-private product development for neglected diseases, eHealth, knowledge-translation platforms, national health innovation systems, donor-country harmonization and coherence, and innovative financing strategies.

With the theme “innovation,” we are challenged to be innovative in the programme itself including new session formats that are more interactive, new ways to network and share information, and new opportunities for inclusion.

So please join us. Registration is now open on www.globalforumhealth.org. We very much look forward to seeing you in Cuba.

Yours sincerely,
Professor Stephen Matlin
Executive Director
Global Forum for Health Research

“The Partnership for Quality Medical Donations (PQMD) Mapping Tool, provides unprecedented access to information about the medical product donations being made…to the world’s most vulnerable populations. [Anyone] can easily determine where PQMD member donations are sent, find information on how the donations are being used by the communities who receive them and access a library of medical donation resources…” Source: Google Map Technology Enhances First Global Medical Donations Map

—-

I was alerted to the newly launched donation mapping tool by Jessica over at GHP (Global Health Progress). Thanks to her I got to sit in on a presentation of the tool which I found fascinating (but not sure anyone else did based on the lack of questions in the audience). The tool is a mashup of Google maps and donation metrics globally (location, type of donation, organizations involved, what type of supplies, volume, staffing on the ground to name some). The goal is to help collaboration, answer questions and facilitate the process of identifying who is working where and what are they doing? Second they wanted to bring to life the impact of donations (places, faces and outcomes). Other things I took away from the presentation:

• Massive unmet need for medical supplies. Poor infrastructure & distribution are key challenges
• Donations are meeting up to 40% of health needs in some areas
• PQMD has 27 members total (non cash EX US dollar volume was $4 Billion dollars, including non PQMD members)
• Private sector + NGO + Academia combo mix: The tool was incubated at Loma Linda School of Public health and is a joint effort with PQMD and industry.

They have put a lot of work into this and I think they have lots of neat information. The data comes from primary and secondary data sources. For example they use actual donor member shipping records and augment that with onsite data collection, interviews and site visits on ground with facility staff (location, staffing, needs). The public view is different from the private view so as not to compromise security of the facilities. There is a lot more I could write about this, but I’ll stop here and let you play around with the tool yourself:

A few other things to note – the PQMD site has various interesting resources. Here are some more notes, and things to check out:

• PQMD case studies
• PQMD fellowships
• PQMD educational resources on proper documentation, storage, distribution, see their basic primer on health care logistics

Have comments about the tool, leave them here:

Two recent awards were given out in the area of technology for humanity. The first was a generic “best of 2008″ in technology PopSci award. It was great to see PopSci pick a technology for developing countries as one of their top products, the CellScope, which we covered in a post on mobile phones for global health (hat tip BOPreneur). Additionally there was the annual Tech Museum awards which you can read more about over at CNET (the Star Syringe was their health awardee).

Video:

Cat Laine over at AIDG alerted me to Maternova…After a little bit of effort I think I finally figured out what they are up to, and the potential is exciting. From what I can tell, Maternova is acting as a clearinghouse and agent to spur the production of low cost life changing technologies in the area of maternal and child health. They are building a portfolio of innovative projects and products. What they are doing is critical for many reasons, one is that they are filling a major gap by coordinating and organizing in one particular area. There are many individuals and groups working globally on similar issues, however attempting to bring some of these ideas together under one umbrella is much more powerful than those projects standing alone.

Here is an introduction to 2 of their several products:

“Embrace is a $25 incubator designed to save premature and low birth weight babies. The product’s mission is to help the 20 million vulnerable babies born every year around the world, who can’t access traditional incubators that cost up to $20,000.  It is not yet on the market.”

“Study findings show the use of a neoprene suit can save the lives of women suffering from obstetrical hemorrhaging due to childbirth. Hemorrhaging accounts for about 30 percent of the more than 500,000 maternal deaths worldwide each year due to childbirth…”

I read on the Maternova website that they are thinking about linking up with mothers in the US as one funding stream. This seems like a great idea, especially if it is to get high volume low cost donations (e.g. <$10-$20). Part of the sales pitch could include an appeal to our global community – today we truly live in a global community and are inextricably linked to one another. Our fates are intertwined like never before. I could see making a pitch like this to appeal to new grandparents, parents, uncles and aunts to make donations in the name of their newborns. I’ll follow up with more information on Maternova…

We previously mentioned the malaria ad sponsored by ExxonMobil during the Olympics. I have seen this several times now during coverage and said in the original post:

“with regard to ExxonMobil’s commercial on Malaria during prime time, when over 1 Billion people were watching, this might have been the largest audience ever for a global health ad.”

I realized after I said this that I probably made a major miscalculation. The NBC channel broadcast I have been watching is only produced for an American audience. The top estimates I have seen for viewership at a given time hit 66 million people. So while Exxon may have had their ad broadcast across countries and major national networks, it is likely that somewhere between tens and hundreds of millions of people saw their commercial – which is still an impressive number. Thanks to Responsible China I found the youtube version of this ad, which is below. In addition I have also seen GE’s portable re-designed low cost EKG machine advertised several times as well. Despite what you may think about these companies it is better than nothing to see MNC’s promoting social causes. We blogged about the EKG machine previously and the commercial is the first one below, followed by the malaria ad. For another check, definitely check out ResponsibleChina.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB47wx-b6sY]

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7qVlbG1i7A]