Weekly News Roundup
News, Events and Observations about Health Markets in the Developing World
Program News
Text to Change, an SMS messaging platform that educates its users about HIV/AIDS through quizzes (among other activities), recently released a blog post covering the “5 most burning questions” regarding the innovative technical platform. Be sure to give it a read!
General News
Nature, one of the most cited interdisciplinary scientific journals in the world, recently published an article on the issue of uncontrolled medical treatments and pharmaceuticals in the developing world; an issue which has cost many not only their money, but also their lives. Read the article: Bringing Order to Unregulated Health Markets by David Peters and Gerald Bloom here (subscription required).
The World Health Organization (WHO) through its [Partnership for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health Division] recently released a publication highlighting a broad range of specific and practical opportunities for improving the health of women and children while also generating value for private enterprise. It provides information about the health needs of women and children in developing and emerging economies to help companies identify where they can have the greatest impact. You can read more here.
The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), due to recent evidence showing that HIV-infected pregnant women are at an increased risk of contracting and transmitting HIV as well as tuberculosis to their children, have recommended that tuberculosis screening become integrated into standard prevention-of-mother-to-child-transmission (PMTCT) HIV work. Read more about PEPFAR’S integrated screening guidelines here.
The Social Franchising Community of Practice, an interactive clearinghouse for information on social franchising, has been active in the past few months producing the fourth annual compendium of social franchises, and standardizing how the goals of social franchising are measured across franchises. Read more about the compendium and social franchises in their newsletter!
The United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), a founding UN charter body that focuses on the world’s economic, social and environmental challenges, concluded Tuesday in New York where they focused mainly on setting up development partnerships that are inclusive, effective and sustainable. Read the press release on the session here.
Aureos Capital, a leading small and mid-cap private equity fund manager specializing in global growth markets, announced an investment in Clinique Biasa, a private hospital and clinic providing a wide range of medical services in Togo, West Africa. The investment has been made by the Africa Health Fund, which is managed by Aureos Capital. The Fund’s objective is to enable low income Africans access to affordable, high quality health services while providing investors with strong long-term financial returns.
Opportunities
CHMI is calling for Expressions of Interest (EOI) for organizations interested in acting as a CHMI country or regional hub and carrying out CHMI activities in low- and middle- income countries. Funding will go toward organizations that can inform and connect programs working to improve the quality, affordability, and accessibility of health care for the poor. The deadline to submit an EOI is August 10, 2012 at 12:00 EST. For more information, read our blog post here or contact Alex Robinson at arobinson@resultsfordevelopment.org.
UCLA’s Center for HIV Identification, Prevention and Treatment (CHIPTS) is hosting UCLA IMPACT 2012, a global competition that welcomes “investigators from all disciplines,” to a contest to bring new information about HIV to people affected, in ways that are accessible and relevant. You only have to be 18 years old to enter, and any entry, whether it be a song, a video, or formal research are accepted as long as it aims to be a creative, innovative, and effective presentation about HIV/AIDS. First place and second place net you $5000 and $1000 respectively. Read more about this interesting competition here!
After having just launched its Global Partnerships channel this past year, VisionSpring is now selling glasses in 18 developing countries through 23 different partners. They are constantly seeking out new, mutually-beneficial partnerships with a wide variety of organizations, and urge anyone interested to contact them at jhutchinson@visionspring.org to explore partnership opportunities. They’re waiting to hear from you!