Making a Better Life in Business
Mbuotidem Okorie dreamt of having his own business, but his disability forced him to beg for a living without hope of work in Nigeria. A Shell programme supporting young entrepreneurs has helped him and others achieve their ambitions. Without the use of his legs, and having no wheelchair or work, paraplegic Mbuotidem Okorie struggled to […]
Ebola Outbreak – Could PPPs Be The Solution?
The Ebola outbreak in Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia is so out of control that governments have resorted to approaches similar to the medieval-era disease control approach last used in 1918: the “cordon sanitaire” whereby no one is allowed out of a barricade established around an infected area. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), […]
Does Fortifying Food Improve Nutrition for the Poorest?
Image: Nsima by Katy Martin Globally, deficiencies in micronutrients are staggering in scale. According to some estimates, between 40 and 60 percent of all children in developing countries suffer negative health consequences from not receiving enough iron, and a similar percentage don’t get enough Vitamin A. One response to this problem has been more widely […]
Easing the Economic Cost of Malaria – With a Vaccine
The interplay between health and economics is unavoidable, particularly when it comes to the impact of malaria on sub-Saharan Africa. Not only does malaria carry a heavy human cost, but it has a heavy economic burden too. Malaria claims around 600,000 lives a year, mostly young children in Africa. This is devastating for families and […]
Can Markets Work For Nutrition? Lessons From Nigeria
Nigeria’s economy has raced to become the largest in Africa. But the country is also ahead on a tragic statistic: it has the highest rates of stunting in Africa, meaning children suffering because they don’t get the nutrients they need to be healthy. Indeed, malnutrition is estimated to kill 350,000 children each year. Today, more […]
The Universe Of Education Innovation And What’s Ahead?
One year ago, our team at the Center for Education Innovations (CEI) set out to increase our understanding of the universe of education innovations serving the poor around the world. We wanted to capture the scale, scope, and impact of promising programs, policies and practices, and share our findings as a public good, so that […]
Employee Volunteerism Ignites Social Innovation At GSK
Photo: Lisa Kenyon, PULSE Volunteer at AMREF- Kenya By Ahsiya Posner Mencin, Ph.D. Director, PULSE Volunteer Partnership How do you capture the fresh insights and ideas that about 100 high-performing GSK employees develop each year as a result of their PULSE assignments? This is a question that the PULSE Team and I have asked ourselves […]
Selling Sanitary Toilets To The Rural Poor
In our imperfect world, many people live in market systems that are broken – they don’t provide access to the basic things people need to live. iDE is a mechanic of broken markets. We try to look at every component of the market system to see how it can run better to benefit the individual. […]
Improving Healthcare Access in Developing Nations
Outside Kenya’s capital Nairobi lies the small farming town of Embu, which is filled with roadside stalls where farmers sell their mango, potato and rice crops. This remote region, nestled near the hills of Mount Kenya, is the setting for the second phase of the Familia Nawiri (Healthy Family) initiative, one example of a Novartis […]
Going The Extra Mile For Health
In the distant corners of Africa, entrepreneurs deliver goods and services across bumpy roads, crossing brimming rivers and rickety bridges, climbing steep hills and descending treacherous valleys. It is a classic story of conquering odds to reach the unreached. This story once inspired a potent question: If a company can deliver soft drinks to the […]
Saving Lives at Birth
What does a garage mechanic from Argentina, a team of students from North Carolina, and a group of doctors in Kenya have in common? They are all pushing the boundaries of innovation to save the lives of women and newborns during their most vulnerable hours — from the time of labor to the 48 hours […]
Making Health Care Possible in the Most Impossible Place
Possible Health is a non-profit tackling the issue of health care in a very challenging environment. Based in a rural area of Nepal, Possible Health’s mission is to prove that it is possible to deliver high quality health care services at a very low cost. Mark Arnoldy, 27, founder of Possible Health, is a serial […]
Making health care possible in the world’s most impossible place
Possible Health is a non-profit tackling the issue of health care in a very challenging environment. Based in a rural area of Nepal, Possible Health’s mission is to prove that it is possible to deliver high quality health care services at a very low cost. Mark Arnoldy, 27, founder of Possible Health, is a serial […]
How Companies are Turning Food Losses into Gains
Experts in global food systems cite the need to expand production in order to feed the world’s growing population. However, just as important is the need to more effectively process and distribute the food we already grow. Here are five facts on the present status of food loss around the globe, and how companies and […]
GSK and Save The Children Healthcare Innovation Award
The GSK and Save the Children Healthcare Innovation Award is back, do you know of an innovative solution that’s helping to save the lives of young children in developing countries? Then GSK and Save the Children want to hear about it. A year ago in Malawi, a tiny baby was born prematurely at seven months, […]
Can Good Research Promote More Investment In Nutrition?
The nutrition sector is at a critical point in its development. Scientists and economists are in agreement nutrition is critical to good health and economic growth. New platforms like the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, have seen more than 50 national governments develop nutrition strategies, and new pledges to nutrition were announced at the Nutrition […]
Seeking Innovative Ideas to Improve Eye Health Globally
Do you have an innovative idea that could improve eye health worldwide? The deadline for applications for the eXcellence in Ophthalmology Vision Award (XOVA) 2014 (www.xovaprogram.org) is 30 June 2014. The XOVA is a scheme, sponsored by Alcon and Novartis Pharmaceuticals, that provides funding to support initiatives aiming to address unmet needs in eye care. […]
Innovations In Privately Delivered MNCH Care: Exploring The Evidence Behind Emerging Practices
This analysis is excerpted froma research brief produced by the T-HOPE Group at the University of Toronto in partnership with CHMI. Organizations are using innovative delivery and financing approaches to improve access to quality healthcare for mothers and children – through private sector mechanisms. Of the 45 million home births that occur annually, the majority […]
Opening Up Innovation To Defeat Diseases Of Poverty
Defeating disease can not only help people live healthier lives, but more prosperous lives too. You need only look at deworming to see this. Intestinal worms cause anaemia, stunting and malnutrition among children living in developing countries. But effective treatment can have a profound effect. A study in Kenya showed that children treated for intestinal […]
Who Are The Innovators?
Innovation is alive and well among entrepreneurs – but not so much where you’d expect. Take Silicon Valley, for example – a place long considered virtually synonymous with innovation. Twelve companies originating from that hotbed of invention during the past decade have achieved market valuations of $1 billion or more, presumably marking them as the […]