Product/Service Development

Every year since 2010, Uganda's AFRIpads company has doubled production of low-cost, washable cloth menstrual kits designed for up to one year’s use, increasing rural access to affordable feminine hygiene (15% of the cost of disposable pads), eliminating reliance on makeshift materials, thereby improving women's health and chances for education and work. Some 120,000+ kits have been distributed so far, mostly by NGOs. The project will improve supply chains, distribution and awareness-raising.

Our bold idea is to strengthen trauma care in Kenya by creating a national trauma system. We are developing strategic ""trauma hubs” and ambulance services using existing infrastructure to decentralize trauma care and improve access and outcomes.

This project fostering integrated rice–duck farming in Nepal will raise incomes through higher productivity and lower fertilizer costs, along with other farm input costs, while reducing malnutrition by providing a continuous supply of protein and vitamin-enriched food.  About half of Nepalese children under five years are malnourished (45% are underweight, 43% have stunted growth) and the problem is most severe among smallholder farm families. For more information visit www.practicalaction.org"

Behaviour change solutions to non-communicable disease challenges: empowering low-income Colombians to commercialize and consume healthy products via social enterprise micro franchising People in poorer areas of Medellin, Colombia eat unhealthy as their diet is dominated by products they can afford: excessive fried foods (often in overused oil), processed products with high additive/sugar/salt content, and low vegetable intake. The result is an unhealthy lifestyle, higher cholesterol levels, increased blood pressure and obesity. These effects are estimated to cause 40% of Colombian deaths.

Malaria is responsible for 21,000 deaths in Tanzania each year. In the dry season, controlling mosquito larvae (which live in water) is not workable because water bodies are hard to locate. Pastoralists (nomads who raise livestock on natural pasture) know where these water bodies are, since they rely on them to water their cattle. Ifakara Health Institute will recruit pastoralists to find and then treat mosquito breeding sites with the eco-friendly and human-safe insecticide pyriproxyfen (PPF). Livestock nutrient supplements will be an added incentive to pastoralists.

In Vietnam, many people have migrated from rural areas to cities for work. Often they are poor and live in unstable environments, putting them at higher risk for poor health outcomes. They also have limited access to reliable sexual and other health information. MHealth for Migrants will provide reliable, low cost health advice for migrant workers via text message. This is a common form of communication in the developing world, and a good way to exchange sensitive information and connect people with services.

This project will bring education into focus for underserved schoolchildren with uncorrected refractive errors by enhancing and expanding HKI’s innovative ChildSight® program through integration with private optic shops in Kon Tum Province, Vietnam. Follow Helen Keller International on Twitter @HelenKellerIntl"

A collaborative project to develop proteinaceous sweeteners from locally occurring plant sources as an alternative to the existing sweeteners. These products will have a global impact towards alleviating the diabetes and obesity epidemic which are caused by excess consumption of high calorific sweeteners.

Early diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is crucial, as it enables the start of interventions that support the best outcomes for children living with ASD. In Vietnam, ASD is often not recognized, and children with the condition do not receive the support they require to live fulfilled and active lives. This project will bring together expertise from Vietnam, Canada and Australia, to ensure children with ASD are able to access early and affordable services.

In Latin America, dementia affects more than 3 million people, a number expected to quintuple by 2050.  In Bolivia alone, an estimated 40,000 people are thought to have dementia but less than 1% have been identified.  Public awareness, appropriate care and effective infrastructure are non-existent. The result: patients have an unacceptably low quality of life and families are over-burdened.