SL@B Partner Grand Challenges Canada has awarded funding to over 80 organizations working to improve global health outlooks through scalable innovations. Roughly two-thirds of the grants announced were given to  innovators based in low-and-middle-income countries. The 83 ideas were selected from a list of over 450 applications (through independent peer review), including projects by social entrepreneurs, private companies and NGOs.

Each of the 83 grantees will receive an award of $100,000 to address health-related challenges in resource-limited settings. Examples of awarded innovations include: a vaccine preventing malaria infection in the placenta; a Litmus paper-like test for detecting bronchitis; low-cost, washable cloth menstrual kits; mobile phone-based tool for aiding health care providers in newborn delivery; a storytelling approach to improving maternal health; and a device used to fortify flour products with iron and Vitamin A.

 

 

In a recent blog, Betsy McCallon, CEO of the White Ribbon Alliance, outlines an argument for Respectful Maternity Care (RMC) as a basic human right and integral component of comprehensive health services. McCallon describes the challenges faced by both pregnant women, and health providers and midwives delivering care in times of  crisis such as war and natural disaster. Resource constraints and security issues, according to McCallon, can further exacerbate mistreatment of mothers during childbirth.

"Receiving RMC has direct health outcomes, and is a key determinant for whether women seek recommended antenatal care and deliver their baby with a skilled birth attendant in the future," says McCallon. "Disrespect and abuse during pregnancy are a well-documented phenomenon. A woman's maternal health experience is directly linked to power relations, and broader contexts of instability in families, communities and nations." Components of RMC include the right to  privacy, education on rights and choices in a care setting, freedom from abuse, and dignified treatment.

 

A collaboration between Irish medical aid project AID:Tech and PharmAccess Foundation has led to the first birth to ever occur on the blockchain, a growing list of publicly linked digital records made famous by cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. While initially a project funded to tackle controversies in the charitable sector regarding fair distribution of donations, it is now being leveraged to ensure pregnant women in Tanzania have access to  the appropriate antenatal care. Through the program, women are given a "digital ID," which allows them access to pregnancy-related necessities (such as folic acid vitamins) and also tracks their progress via data added to the blockchain. Three babies have been tracked from registration and initial appointments to birth since July, with additional tracked births expected in the coming months and years.

This collaboration marks an exciting development in the world of blockchain technology (where banking and finances have largely been the focus), and has attracted interest from private sector investors such as Enterprise Ireland, SGInnovate and Techstars.