Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Health. Show all posts
Shakira and World Bank
Shakira visits the World Bank headquarters in Washington today to promote early childhood education. The goal is to create early development programs in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Nestlé Prize in Creating Shared Value - Entries by 31 October
Do you know of a project or innovation seeking to improve access to nutrition, improve rural development or have a significant impact on water management or access to clean water? Go to www.nestle.com for further information about applications.
Microscope extension for cameraphones
This low-cost solution is used for telemedicine applications in developing worlds, where access to cellphone networks are more prevalent.
D.N. Breslauer, R.N. Maamari, N.A. Switz, W.A. Lam, D.A. Fletcher, "Mobile Phone Based Clinical Microscopy for Global Health Applications", PLoS ONE 4(7): e6320, 2009. [Article]
D.N. Breslauer, R.N. Maamari, N.A. Switz, W.A. Lam, D.A. Fletcher, "Mobile Phone Based Clinical Microscopy for Global Health Applications", PLoS ONE 4(7): e6320, 2009. [Article]
Light microscopy provides a simple, cost-effective, and vital method for the diagnosis and screening of hematologic and infectious diseases. In many regions of the world, however, the required equipment is either unavailable or insufficiently portable, and operators may not possess adequate training to make full use of the images obtained. Counterintuitively, these same regions are often well served by mobile phone networks, suggesting the possibility of leveraging portable, camera-enabled mobile phones for diagnostic imaging and telemedicine. Toward this end we have built a mobile phone-mounted light microscope and demonstrated its potential for clinical use by imaging P. falciparum-infected and sickle red blood cells in brightfield and M. tuberculosis-infected sputum samples in fluorescence with LED excitation.
Infant Incubator for Rural Health Centers
The goal of the project is to improve the first prototype developed in the IDDS 2008 at MIT. The purpose is to develop a set of low-cost modules for the infant incubator. The first proposal is to engineer a monitoring system which will record, graph and adjust the main parameters as temperature and humidity.
Our next steps are to develop the modular design of the infant incubator including alternative sources of power, heating/humidifier option, filtering system, pulse oxymeter, storage drawers and so on. When we build our ultimate prototype, we will be ready for field trials in Peru and other potential locations in Latin America. To define our business strategy, we will make market feasibility studies.
Components
The project will be implemented through four components:
a) Component I: Assessment of hardware and software
Through this component, open source hardware and software will be identified, assessed and clearly defined, based on a multidimensional analysis of technical feasibility including the identification of potential bottlenecks and critical factors in implementing this system in rural environments. This component is expected to produce a baseline documented and developed in accordance with clearly defined parameters and criteria.
b) Component II: Design of monitoring system
The purpose of this component is to propose the most viable solution for the monitoring system including safety standards, interface criteria, availability of materials and portability of the equipment. To this end, the component calls for preparing a technical proposal for developing the software which will include a graph option to see data, an automatic adjustment of parameters, recording of data and a warning system. This component is expected to produce technology and software for the new monitoring system developed and ready for integrating this module to our prototype of infant incubator.
c) Component III: Development of control system, interfaces, hardware assembling and software modules.
The objective of this component is to establish and build the monitoring system. At a minimum, the following outcomes are anticipated from this component:
- The controller is based on micro computerized system.
- Detachable monitoring system unit.
- Individual sensor for air and skin.
- The digital display system provided to set the required temperature as well as to measure infant’s temperature and air temperature.
- Displays RH.
- Memory back-up.
- Comprehensive alarms: Air Temperature Low / High, Skin Temperature Low / High, Sensor Failure, Low Battery, Heater Failure, Power Failure and Fan Failure.
d) Component IV: Testing and Debugging. Evaluate the experience gained.
The objective of this component is to capture, evaluate and disseminate the project activities and outcomes, and gain a better understanding of how to design low-cost modules for our infant incubator. The following activities will be carried out to attain this objective:
- Establish a set of test and record data to verify safety and appropriateness of our prototype.
- Develop a manual for the construction of this monitoring system.
- Disseminate the lessons learned via Appropedia and interviews to local partners.
The executing organism for the project will be Quantum Solutions, a private Think Tank and Social Business Incubator. This organization has the legal, administrative and financial capacity to implement all project activities. Additionally, an executing unit will be created in order to support project activities. To support and facilitate the tasks to be performed for program activities, a technical team will be created. The technical team will consist of two consultants: an electronic engineer and a software engineer. These representatives will monitor and oversee project execution and support the executing unit so that it is able to perform its tasks efficiently.
Our next steps are to develop the modular design of the infant incubator including alternative sources of power, heating/humidifier option, filtering system, pulse oxymeter, storage drawers and so on. When we build our ultimate prototype, we will be ready for field trials in Peru and other potential locations in Latin America. To define our business strategy, we will make market feasibility studies.
Components
The project will be implemented through four components:
a) Component I: Assessment of hardware and software
Through this component, open source hardware and software will be identified, assessed and clearly defined, based on a multidimensional analysis of technical feasibility including the identification of potential bottlenecks and critical factors in implementing this system in rural environments. This component is expected to produce a baseline documented and developed in accordance with clearly defined parameters and criteria.
b) Component II: Design of monitoring system
The purpose of this component is to propose the most viable solution for the monitoring system including safety standards, interface criteria, availability of materials and portability of the equipment. To this end, the component calls for preparing a technical proposal for developing the software which will include a graph option to see data, an automatic adjustment of parameters, recording of data and a warning system. This component is expected to produce technology and software for the new monitoring system developed and ready for integrating this module to our prototype of infant incubator.
c) Component III: Development of control system, interfaces, hardware assembling and software modules.
The objective of this component is to establish and build the monitoring system. At a minimum, the following outcomes are anticipated from this component:
- The controller is based on micro computerized system.
- Detachable monitoring system unit.
- Individual sensor for air and skin.
- The digital display system provided to set the required temperature as well as to measure infant’s temperature and air temperature.
- Displays RH.
- Memory back-up.
- Comprehensive alarms: Air Temperature Low / High, Skin Temperature Low / High, Sensor Failure, Low Battery, Heater Failure, Power Failure and Fan Failure.
d) Component IV: Testing and Debugging. Evaluate the experience gained.
The objective of this component is to capture, evaluate and disseminate the project activities and outcomes, and gain a better understanding of how to design low-cost modules for our infant incubator. The following activities will be carried out to attain this objective:
- Establish a set of test and record data to verify safety and appropriateness of our prototype.
- Develop a manual for the construction of this monitoring system.
- Disseminate the lessons learned via Appropedia and interviews to local partners.
The executing organism for the project will be Quantum Solutions, a private Think Tank and Social Business Incubator. This organization has the legal, administrative and financial capacity to implement all project activities. Additionally, an executing unit will be created in order to support project activities. To support and facilitate the tasks to be performed for program activities, a technical team will be created. The technical team will consist of two consultants: an electronic engineer and a software engineer. These representatives will monitor and oversee project execution and support the executing unit so that it is able to perform its tasks efficiently.
Infant Incubator
Each year, 10.7 million children under the age of five years die, 4 million during the first four weeks of life. Another 3.3 million are stillborn and these are only the official reports. In the less developed countries, which account for 98 percent of reported neonatal deaths and 97 percent of reported stillbirths, these births and deaths are not always registered.
This is a complex problem which requires a multidimensional analysis. Neonatal deaths generally result from complications of preterm birth, asphyxia or trauma during birth, infections, severe malformations, or other specifically perinatal causes. The proportion attributable to each cause varies: for example, in areas where neonatal mortality is lower, preterm birth and malformations play a larger role; where mortality is higher, the contributions of asphyxia, tetanus, and infections are greater. Maternal health and nutrition are important for neonatal health and maternal infections contribute to adverse outcomes.
In Peru, mostly in rural areas, not all institutions that offer maternity services meet the minimal standards for safe childbirth and newborn care. Such facilities are often hampered by a scarcity of health care providers, outdated knowledge and inadequate skills, overcrowding, inadequate hygiene, and a lack of essential medicines, supplies, and equipment. Countries face the challenge of building health care systems that can meet the needs of an increasing number of women and infants.
Targeting new interventions for neonatal survival should be easy in one sense: we know when pregnant women and newborns will need care, since we estimate in advance the date of birth and most complications arise during late pregnancy and childbirth. There is no substitute for professional care during the critical 24 hours after birth. A skilled provider can support a woman during childbirth in a manner that is in keeping with her culture and beliefs and can promote breast-feeding, detect complications, and organize care by obstetricians or pediatricians as needed.
In this context, our proposal is to design a safe incubator that will be used in local health centers in order to allow low-weight births to receive medical care. Our protoype developed at IDDS 2008 at MIT is easily assembled and portable. It needs minimal operating capabilities and will keep the infant warm and hydrated.
This prototype meets the following design specifications:
a) Easy assembly: each part is designed to fit into one and only one location so that it is intuitive for any health worker to assemble.
b) Easy maintenance by an unskilled technician: in the event of a part malfunction, it will be clear which part needs to be replaced and it will be easy to remove only that part.
c) Scalability of features: this will allow target health centers to scale up in incubator features without having to buy a new model.
d) Easy replacement of parts: the incubator is designed with locally available materials that have parts that are easily replaceable.
e) Transportable bed: the bed is able to be moved from a primary or intermediate health center to a larger scale hospital with non-electric heat maintenance during transport.
The goal of the project is to improve the first prototype developed in the IDDS 2008 at MIT. The purpose is to develop a set of low-cost modules for the infant incubator. For this reason, our first proposal for this grant is to engineer a monitoring system which will record, graph and adjust the main parameters as temperature and humidity.
Our next steps are to develop the modular design of the infant incubator including alternative sources of power, heating/humidifier option, filtering system, pulse oxymeter, storage drawers and so on. When we build our ultimate prototype, we will be ready for field trials in Peru and other potential locations in Latin America. To define our business strategy, we will make market feasibility studies.
This is a complex problem which requires a multidimensional analysis. Neonatal deaths generally result from complications of preterm birth, asphyxia or trauma during birth, infections, severe malformations, or other specifically perinatal causes. The proportion attributable to each cause varies: for example, in areas where neonatal mortality is lower, preterm birth and malformations play a larger role; where mortality is higher, the contributions of asphyxia, tetanus, and infections are greater. Maternal health and nutrition are important for neonatal health and maternal infections contribute to adverse outcomes.
In Peru, mostly in rural areas, not all institutions that offer maternity services meet the minimal standards for safe childbirth and newborn care. Such facilities are often hampered by a scarcity of health care providers, outdated knowledge and inadequate skills, overcrowding, inadequate hygiene, and a lack of essential medicines, supplies, and equipment. Countries face the challenge of building health care systems that can meet the needs of an increasing number of women and infants.
Targeting new interventions for neonatal survival should be easy in one sense: we know when pregnant women and newborns will need care, since we estimate in advance the date of birth and most complications arise during late pregnancy and childbirth. There is no substitute for professional care during the critical 24 hours after birth. A skilled provider can support a woman during childbirth in a manner that is in keeping with her culture and beliefs and can promote breast-feeding, detect complications, and organize care by obstetricians or pediatricians as needed.
In this context, our proposal is to design a safe incubator that will be used in local health centers in order to allow low-weight births to receive medical care. Our protoype developed at IDDS 2008 at MIT is easily assembled and portable. It needs minimal operating capabilities and will keep the infant warm and hydrated.
This prototype meets the following design specifications:
a) Easy assembly: each part is designed to fit into one and only one location so that it is intuitive for any health worker to assemble.
b) Easy maintenance by an unskilled technician: in the event of a part malfunction, it will be clear which part needs to be replaced and it will be easy to remove only that part.
c) Scalability of features: this will allow target health centers to scale up in incubator features without having to buy a new model.
d) Easy replacement of parts: the incubator is designed with locally available materials that have parts that are easily replaceable.
e) Transportable bed: the bed is able to be moved from a primary or intermediate health center to a larger scale hospital with non-electric heat maintenance during transport.
The goal of the project is to improve the first prototype developed in the IDDS 2008 at MIT. The purpose is to develop a set of low-cost modules for the infant incubator. For this reason, our first proposal for this grant is to engineer a monitoring system which will record, graph and adjust the main parameters as temperature and humidity.
Our next steps are to develop the modular design of the infant incubator including alternative sources of power, heating/humidifier option, filtering system, pulse oxymeter, storage drawers and so on. When we build our ultimate prototype, we will be ready for field trials in Peru and other potential locations in Latin America. To define our business strategy, we will make market feasibility studies.
Remote Patient Monitoring System
Peru is a developing country with more than 40% of its population residing in rural areas with insufficient health care facilities. The recent advancements in telecommunications provide a significant opportunity to the developing countries to develop a health infrastructure that addresses the needs of the rural population.
New technology is now focusing on providing critical health care services to the patients at their door steps in real-time by utilizing the services of modern wireless networks and the Internet.
In the developing countries network-based medical system could act as a catalyst for providing basic health services to the patients who live in rural areas, where health care facilities are either non-existent or of extremely poor quality. The patients in these areas have to travel great distances over a highly inefficient transportation system to reach the nearest health care center. Consequently, a large number of patients die in emergency scenarios. This is particularly evident by a very high maternal and infant mortality rates. The gravity of the problem is further aggravated due to the scarcity of skilled health care staff.
We propose a remote patient monitoring system for maternal and infant care in Peru. The remote patient monitoring consists of three core components:
- Sensor network that monitor the vital signs of the patients.
- Patient node for transmission of data to a root node
- The root node for gathering information from patient nodes and maintaining the records.
New technology is now focusing on providing critical health care services to the patients at their door steps in real-time by utilizing the services of modern wireless networks and the Internet.
In the developing countries network-based medical system could act as a catalyst for providing basic health services to the patients who live in rural areas, where health care facilities are either non-existent or of extremely poor quality. The patients in these areas have to travel great distances over a highly inefficient transportation system to reach the nearest health care center. Consequently, a large number of patients die in emergency scenarios. This is particularly evident by a very high maternal and infant mortality rates. The gravity of the problem is further aggravated due to the scarcity of skilled health care staff.
We propose a remote patient monitoring system for maternal and infant care in Peru. The remote patient monitoring consists of three core components:
- Sensor network that monitor the vital signs of the patients.
- Patient node for transmission of data to a root node
- The root node for gathering information from patient nodes and maintaining the records.
Community Health Promoters
Non-governmental organizations in Peru have many years of experience working successfully with the model of community health promoters. The public sector has started to establish a system of community health promoters affiliated with the health sector, who would have direct contact with families in their homes, providing outreach, services, and learning activities related to health, hygiene, and nutrition.
The target audiences for the proposed project are school children; school teachers; pregnant and lactating women; adolescent mothers and girls; household in extreme poverty; health professionals and community health promoters.
The content will be generated by health professionals and health promoters from rural communities. They will be supervised by NutriProSalud. All health professionals of NutriProSalud are certificated health professionals: Nutriologists, Doctors, Psychologists, Social Workers. They are senior professionals with more than 20 years of working experience and health practice. Additionally, we have professionals with backgrounds in Food Science, Agriculture and Social Entrepreneurship.
During the work on this project we would stay in close contact with the Ministry of Health and other national programs as CRECER, JUNTOS and HUASCARAN to ensure that requirements are met, adapting the content design if necessary.
The project aims to have active participation of health professionals, school teachers and health promoters and we wish them to create their own discussion platforms.
We invite health professionals and promoters from all target regions (8 regions), also to discuss their problems, needs, curiosities, things that they want to talk about, anything related to community health and health education, their expectations and hopes.
We have defined some discussion topics for a start.
- Community Health and Education, the separation of "practice" and "theory"
- Use of ICTs tools in Community Health
From the pilot and scale-up phases:
- Recover traditional knowledge about native plants and foods.
- A community outreach agent (health professional) in each region.
- An average of two content creators (health promoters) in each community.
- An average of two school teachers, from each community, have received training on community health.
- Capacity building, trainings, organization development.
- 10,000 unique visitors by month.
Before the scale-up period ends, a sustainability meeting will be organized with representatives from social business incubators, microfinancial institutions, public agencies and others to evaluate actions needed to assure the continuity of project once funding is exhausted. Our studies showed that there is a potential to replicate it in Bolivia and Ecuador. We will systematize the lessons learned in order to derive principles and methods applicable in other zones and wider groups. We will hold two national dissemination events.
The target audiences for the proposed project are school children; school teachers; pregnant and lactating women; adolescent mothers and girls; household in extreme poverty; health professionals and community health promoters.
The content will be generated by health professionals and health promoters from rural communities. They will be supervised by NutriProSalud. All health professionals of NutriProSalud are certificated health professionals: Nutriologists, Doctors, Psychologists, Social Workers. They are senior professionals with more than 20 years of working experience and health practice. Additionally, we have professionals with backgrounds in Food Science, Agriculture and Social Entrepreneurship.
During the work on this project we would stay in close contact with the Ministry of Health and other national programs as CRECER, JUNTOS and HUASCARAN to ensure that requirements are met, adapting the content design if necessary.
The project aims to have active participation of health professionals, school teachers and health promoters and we wish them to create their own discussion platforms.
We invite health professionals and promoters from all target regions (8 regions), also to discuss their problems, needs, curiosities, things that they want to talk about, anything related to community health and health education, their expectations and hopes.
We have defined some discussion topics for a start.
- Community Health and Education, the separation of "practice" and "theory"
- Use of ICTs tools in Community Health
From the pilot and scale-up phases:
- Recover traditional knowledge about native plants and foods.
- A community outreach agent (health professional) in each region.
- An average of two content creators (health promoters) in each community.
- An average of two school teachers, from each community, have received training on community health.
- Capacity building, trainings, organization development.
- 10,000 unique visitors by month.
Before the scale-up period ends, a sustainability meeting will be organized with representatives from social business incubators, microfinancial institutions, public agencies and others to evaluate actions needed to assure the continuity of project once funding is exhausted. Our studies showed that there is a potential to replicate it in Bolivia and Ecuador. We will systematize the lessons learned in order to derive principles and methods applicable in other zones and wider groups. We will hold two national dissemination events.
Community Health 2.0
The objectives are: - Building a virtual space with a focus on community health, providing contextually appropriate contents related to health, hygiene and nutrition. - Improving household access to and use of quality health services through behavior change communications and delivered through of health promoters, supervised by the health professionals. - Provide health information services: Access to specialized health information, access to distance learning courses, access to consultation with expert health personnel, improvement of the epidemiologic surveillance. - In emergency scenarios could be a surveillance system for rapid detection of potential outbreaks in rural settings. We propose to develop Yacha Salud in the 8 poorest regions of Peru, around 5 million people. The target groups for the proposed media project are school children, school teachers; social workers, community leaders, local authorities, health professionals and health promoters. The project will be conducted in three phases: (A) pilot phase in 2 regions (6 months) (B) scale-up phase in 8 regions (12 months) and (C) replication phase (12 months) in the rest of the country. The first two phases will be implemented with the News Challenge funding. Our initiative emphasizes participation of schools. In addition to education the new approach includes education on health, hygiene, nutrition and entrepreneurship. Evidence from around the world demonstrates that investments in public health and education are fundamental to improving human welfare, resistance to disease and reduce poverty. Integrating health, hygiene and nutrition messages into the basic education curriculum, particularly for girls, could be an effective approach to improving health of future generations.
In Peru health problems do not solely rest on the access to health services but the problems are also embedded in behavioral and cultural practices. Cultural practices are particularly influential in matters of food consumption and hygiene. Certain traditional health practices may be preferred by a population simply as a matter of tradition. Our initiative is developed specifically to meet the needs of the rural communities, and school teachers, community leaders, social workers, health professionals and health promoters should be trained to deliver those messages appropriately and enabling then to participate in the creation of content. Content will be designed based on local successful strategies for community health.
In Peru an integrated community health strategy has not until now been implemented on a national or regional scale, whether due to lack of technical capacity, administrative constraints, or lack of political will. - Technology alone will fail and our project provide support with a comprehensive approach and including: technical support, change management, training, coaching and cultural sensitivity. The content will be generated by health professionals from rural communities and we wish them to create their own discussion platforms. They can translate it into native languages and add relevant localized content. -Yacha is a Web2.0 portal based entirely in Drupal and open AJAX. It support spatial DB, APIs, and mobile access via SMS.
In Peru health problems do not solely rest on the access to health services but the problems are also embedded in behavioral and cultural practices. Cultural practices are particularly influential in matters of food consumption and hygiene. Certain traditional health practices may be preferred by a population simply as a matter of tradition. Our initiative is developed specifically to meet the needs of the rural communities, and school teachers, community leaders, social workers, health professionals and health promoters should be trained to deliver those messages appropriately and enabling then to participate in the creation of content. Content will be designed based on local successful strategies for community health.
In Peru an integrated community health strategy has not until now been implemented on a national or regional scale, whether due to lack of technical capacity, administrative constraints, or lack of political will. - Technology alone will fail and our project provide support with a comprehensive approach and including: technical support, change management, training, coaching and cultural sensitivity. The content will be generated by health professionals from rural communities and we wish them to create their own discussion platforms. They can translate it into native languages and add relevant localized content. -Yacha is a Web2.0 portal based entirely in Drupal and open AJAX. It support spatial DB, APIs, and mobile access via SMS.
XO Incubator
Our group with some participants in the International Development Design Summit have been designed an incubator for low birth weight babies in the developing world. 20 millons LBW babies born every year, 96% in the developing world. Incubators in developed countries are designed for hospitals: hard to repair, complex and expensive
We aim to imporve access to incubators and increase their effectiveness. It is a modular incubator: simple and adaptable with easily replaceable parts, allowing medical facilities to buy only what they need and to easily scale up over time. The incubator uses a XO laptop and low cost sensors for sensing medical signals.
The incubator will be used in rural health centers in the andes of Peru and manufactured locally by SMEs.
We aim to imporve access to incubators and increase their effectiveness. It is a modular incubator: simple and adaptable with easily replaceable parts, allowing medical facilities to buy only what they need and to easily scale up over time. The incubator uses a XO laptop and low cost sensors for sensing medical signals.
The incubator will be used in rural health centers in the andes of Peru and manufactured locally by SMEs.
Yacha Salud
In rural areas of Peru, 7 of 10 individuals are poor. The majority of the rural poor are active in agriculture, mainly as producers and often with limited access to health, education and markets. The Sierra region consistently has the worst indicators for access to health, water and sanitation services, education, poverty and extreme poverty.
In Peru the quality of available health care is a problem. Health services tend to take a curative rather than a preventive approach, because of the training of health personnel. Health professionals may not speak the same language, which creates a barrier in interpersonal communication and creates in the population a fear of poor treatment.
In Peru health problems do not solely rest on the access to health services but the problems are also embedded in behavioral and cultural practices. Cultural practices are particularly influential in matters of food consumption and hygiene. Certain traditional health practices may have strong ceremonial or religious ties, or may be preferred by a population simply as a matter of tradition.
In Peru an integrated public health strategy has not until now been implemented on a national or regional scale, whether due to lack of technical capacity, administrative constraints, or lack of political will.
New local initiatives emphasize participation of schools. In addition to education the new approach includes education on health, hygiene, nutrition and entrepreneurship. They are more applicable to Peru, due to understanding of budget, government, and cultural constraints.
Evidence from around the world demonstrates that investments in public health and education are fundamental to improving human welfare, resistance to disease and reduce poverty through improving worker productivity. Integrating health, hygiene and nutrition messages into the basic education curriculum, particularly for girls, could be an effective approach to improving health of future generations.
Non-governmental organizations in Peru have many years of experience working successfully with the model of community health promoters. The public sector has started to establish a system of community health promoters affiliated with the health sector, who would have direct contact with families in their homes, providing outreach, services, and learning activities related to health, hygiene, and nutrition.
We propose to develop Yacha Salud in the 8 poorest regions of Peru, around 6 million people. The target groups for the proposed media project are school children; school teachers; pregnant and lactating women; adolescent mothers and girls; household in extreme poverty; health professionals and health promoters.
Content will be designed according to national health guidelines and based on local successful strategies for community health. We are involved with the formulation and review of health-related programs.
Health professionals and health promoters will receive technical assistance and training on Community Health and ICTs tools, enabling then to participate in the creation of content. The training materials will be distributed through partnership with our Peruvian partners that can translate it into native languages and add relevant localized content. The project will be implemented in a decentralized manner for maximum responsiveness to local needs. The ICTs training will be implemented by our local partner. The curriculum includes practical classes on use of Wikis (Wikimedia), Blogs (WordPress) and CMS (Drupal).
The initiative’s focus on Health, Hygiene and Nutrition addresses an unmet need with tremendous potential: Improving household access to and use of quality health information and services translate into healthier, better educated families that can benefit generations to come.
In Peru the quality of available health care is a problem. Health services tend to take a curative rather than a preventive approach, because of the training of health personnel. Health professionals may not speak the same language, which creates a barrier in interpersonal communication and creates in the population a fear of poor treatment.
In Peru health problems do not solely rest on the access to health services but the problems are also embedded in behavioral and cultural practices. Cultural practices are particularly influential in matters of food consumption and hygiene. Certain traditional health practices may have strong ceremonial or religious ties, or may be preferred by a population simply as a matter of tradition.
In Peru an integrated public health strategy has not until now been implemented on a national or regional scale, whether due to lack of technical capacity, administrative constraints, or lack of political will.
New local initiatives emphasize participation of schools. In addition to education the new approach includes education on health, hygiene, nutrition and entrepreneurship. They are more applicable to Peru, due to understanding of budget, government, and cultural constraints.
Evidence from around the world demonstrates that investments in public health and education are fundamental to improving human welfare, resistance to disease and reduce poverty through improving worker productivity. Integrating health, hygiene and nutrition messages into the basic education curriculum, particularly for girls, could be an effective approach to improving health of future generations.
Non-governmental organizations in Peru have many years of experience working successfully with the model of community health promoters. The public sector has started to establish a system of community health promoters affiliated with the health sector, who would have direct contact with families in their homes, providing outreach, services, and learning activities related to health, hygiene, and nutrition.
We propose to develop Yacha Salud in the 8 poorest regions of Peru, around 6 million people. The target groups for the proposed media project are school children; school teachers; pregnant and lactating women; adolescent mothers and girls; household in extreme poverty; health professionals and health promoters.
Content will be designed according to national health guidelines and based on local successful strategies for community health. We are involved with the formulation and review of health-related programs.
Health professionals and health promoters will receive technical assistance and training on Community Health and ICTs tools, enabling then to participate in the creation of content. The training materials will be distributed through partnership with our Peruvian partners that can translate it into native languages and add relevant localized content. The project will be implemented in a decentralized manner for maximum responsiveness to local needs. The ICTs training will be implemented by our local partner. The curriculum includes practical classes on use of Wikis (Wikimedia), Blogs (WordPress) and CMS (Drupal).
The initiative’s focus on Health, Hygiene and Nutrition addresses an unmet need with tremendous potential: Improving household access to and use of quality health information and services translate into healthier, better educated families that can benefit generations to come.
Reducing Water Pollution
Reduce the pollution of the marine and fresh waters caused by synthetic cleaning products and help to alleviate poverty in a sustainable way.
Our project enables small scale farmers, grassroot entrepreneurs and SMEs to be value chain actors through the production of natural cleaning products, made of Boliche (Sapindus saponaria sp.), a native plant from South America, for local and global markets. We design and develop new products including packaging, marketing and sales. All the others business activities will be outsourced to local SMEs. Project is designed to:
- Improve profitability, market access, environmental sustainability and business relationships for clusters of farmers and processors.
- Offer products to satisfy the green market needs for consumers in Peru and the World.
This is a new approach because we support the sustainable production of green products to guarantee financial and environmental sustainability. At the same time, we support the development of sustainable agriculture systems. It means to empower poor segment to protect their enviroment and recover their traditional knowledge.
Our products are characterized by being non-toxics, 100% biodegradables, and no contains phosphates, artificial fragrances or dyes.
The organization made a set of studies including feasibility, benchmarking and consumer behavior. The project will be conducted in three phases: (A) 1st year: pilot phase in 1 regions (B) 2nd year: scale-up phase in 4 regions and (C) replication phase. We have a clear vision of the appropriate scale of intervention, although it started with a pilot phase, it aimed from the beginning to eventually provide a business environment for the incorporation of the poor in the value chain.
Our project enables small scale farmers, grassroot entrepreneurs and SMEs to be value chain actors through the production of natural cleaning products, made of Boliche (Sapindus saponaria sp.), a native plant from South America, for local and global markets. We design and develop new products including packaging, marketing and sales. All the others business activities will be outsourced to local SMEs. Project is designed to:
- Improve profitability, market access, environmental sustainability and business relationships for clusters of farmers and processors.
- Offer products to satisfy the green market needs for consumers in Peru and the World.
This is a new approach because we support the sustainable production of green products to guarantee financial and environmental sustainability. At the same time, we support the development of sustainable agriculture systems. It means to empower poor segment to protect their enviroment and recover their traditional knowledge.
Our products are characterized by being non-toxics, 100% biodegradables, and no contains phosphates, artificial fragrances or dyes.
The organization made a set of studies including feasibility, benchmarking and consumer behavior. The project will be conducted in three phases: (A) 1st year: pilot phase in 1 regions (B) 2nd year: scale-up phase in 4 regions and (C) replication phase. We have a clear vision of the appropriate scale of intervention, although it started with a pilot phase, it aimed from the beginning to eventually provide a business environment for the incorporation of the poor in the value chain.
Incubator for low birth weight infants in rural zones
Incubator for low birth weight infants in rural zones: Bridge the gap between healthcare available to urban and rural born infants.
High mortality rate of low-birth-weight (LBW) infants in rural zones could be prevented with access to an incubator, a device that provides a stable and safe environment for the baby. Traditional incubators are expensive and available primarily in urban hospitals. The challenge is to design an incubator to work in rural zones. It uses no electricity, is portable, easy to sterilize, reusable and intuitive to use. It facilitates and complements the widely practiced technique of kangaroo mother care.
High mortality rate of low-birth-weight (LBW) infants in rural zones could be prevented with access to an incubator, a device that provides a stable and safe environment for the baby. Traditional incubators are expensive and available primarily in urban hospitals. The challenge is to design an incubator to work in rural zones. It uses no electricity, is portable, easy to sterilize, reusable and intuitive to use. It facilitates and complements the widely practiced technique of kangaroo mother care.
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