Weekly News Roundup
News, Events and Observations about Health Markets in the Developing World
Program News
MicroEnsure, an innovative microensurance program, has reached a major landmark – they now cover over 600,000 lives in Tanzania! Congratulations to MicroEnsure on this major milestone.
Reminder: We mentioned this a few weeks ago, but Operation ASHA is currently participating in SideRocket’s “Make An Impact” Non-profit Presentation contest. The winners will be granted $10,000 and are selected based on the number of unique views they can garner, as well as on the success of their program. Help Operation ASHA win this contest by watching this presentation!
General News
Where and how did the HIV/AIDS epidemic begin? Read about how the colonial legacy in Africa influenced the epidemic’s beginnings in this Washington Post article.
This New York Times Opinionator piece looks at the history of using contests to spur (social and other types of) innovation and how contests are now being used in a variety of fields. Interestingly, one Harvard Business School study looked found that “expertise in the field of the problem actually hurt a solver’s chances”, and “In addition to being a technical outsider, being a social outsider also helped”.
On a non-healthcare tangent, and related to the recent bombings in Syria that killed Western journalists: MobileActive recently launched a project called SaferMobile “that provides various encryption and anonymizing apps for mobile phones. SaferMobile’s toolkit is directly intended for use by activists and journalists working under the noses of repressive regimes around the world.”
Contest News
The 2012 Innovation Working Group has issued a Call for Letters of Interest (LOI) for the 2012 mHealth for Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health competition for catalytic funding. The Innovation Working Group, a partnership between the mHealth Alliance, the UN Secretary-General, and the Norwegian Development Corporation (Norad), aims to “support promising mHealth programs with proof of efficacy as well as sustainable business plans to go to scale and to strengthen the evidence base for mHealth for maternal, newborn, and child health in developing countries.” To read more about the contest and who is eligible to participate, click here.
In honor of International Women’s Day, Oxfam America is asking people to nominate a local women who makes a difference in her community. Winners of the contest will win a $1,000 award prize. Submission ends March 22nd, and you can find more information about the contest and the nomination form here.