Product/Service Development

Globally, 221 million women desire to prevent pregnancies. Developing countries face 99% of the 287000 annual maternal deaths, 30% can be prevented through family planning. Mother’s well being and pregnancy outcomes depend on pregnancy spacing, access to contraceptives improves public health outcomes, thus alleviates poverty. However barriers to access modern contraception exist including lack of knowledge, poor supply chain, as well as lack of choice. Young unmarried girls most affected.

Maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) is a priority area of Jamaica’s Ministry of Health and with neonatal deaths and stillbirths being reported in the news, there is public interest in ensuring demonstrable action is taken. This context justifies implementing our innovation in Jamaica, an idea developed jointly by our team, a partnership between the Jamaica Ministry of Health, the Women’s Health Network Jamaica and the Dalhousie University WHO/PAHO Collaborating Centre on Health Workforce Planning & Research.

A growing body of research has highlighted the critical importance of children’s self-regulation and executive function skills for their school performance as well as for their later life outcomes. Starting around age three, children have a unique potential to improve these skills and establish positive behaviors that will support them in school and life.In this project, we propose to adapt, implement and evaluate the effectiveness of the Brain Games intervention package as a tool to improve children’s self-regulation and executive function skills.

Guatemala has the second highest prevalence of stunting in the world among children under 5 years of age and the highest in Latin America (49%). By any measure (income, education, health, stunting), rural, indigenous Maya people (who make up over half of the population) have the highest rates of deprivation. The central innovation proposed is the implementation of a new community counseling model for maternal and child health, with supportive supervision and the use of performance incentives, led by youth from Guatemalan rural, indigenous communities.

In Lesotho, 33% of all children never reach their true cognitive potential because they face chronic nutritional deficits in their first 1000 days, a critical time when brains and bodies are growing rapidly. Due to its lasting impact on the immune system, stunting is an underlying cause in about 45% of all child deaths. The national response in Lesotho has been fragmented and invests overly in school-age children, many of whom already have irreversible damage from stunting. Stunting rates have declined by only 1% a year over the last 10 years, leaving thousands of children affected.

Au Sénégal, seulement 14, 7 % des jeunes enfants de 0 à 6 ans ont accès à une éducation préscolaire et moins d'1 % des enfants de 0 à 3 ans [1]. Ces jeunes enfants souffrent alors d’un manque de stimulation cognitive. La totalité des crèches étant gérées par des établissements privés, les mères défavorisées n’ont pas les moyens d’y inscrire leurs enfants. Sukabé est une entreprise sociale dont la mission est de rendre plus accessible la pré-scolarisation des enfants de 0 à 3 ans issus des quartiers défavorisés de la banlieue de Dakar, en créant des centres de jeux et activités ludiques.

Scaling the BEMPU hypothermia alert device across Indian and international markets

Newborn Heart Rate as a catalyst for improved survival

Validation of an innovative newborn respiratory package of equipment and training

FREO2 Solar: Battery-free solar-powered oxygen system for small health facilities