Weekly News Roundup
News, Events and Observations about Health Markets in the Developing World
Program News
Operation ASHA found itself featured in The Wall Street Journal this week after winning the 2012 Health-Care IT Award in The Wall Street Journal Technology Innovation Awards. Operation ASHA is a non-profit organization in India that uses information technology such as electronic fingerprinting, among other various technologies, to assure patients adhere to their tuberculosis treatments. Read the full article on this innovative organization here.
The Founder and CEO of Arogya World, a diabetes prevention mobile health initative, recently wrote an article for CNN Health on how cell phones are helping tackle the problem of diabetes and non-communicable diseases (NCD) in India. Read the full article on the NCD pandemic in India and what Arogya World is doing to solve it here.
General News
Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health recently found that they could track malaria in Kenya through the use of cell phone calls and text messages. Researches say that due to the proliferation of cell phones throughout the world, especially in low-and-middle income countries, tracking malaria through the movement of humans via their cell phone and text message records has now become a reality. Read the full ABC report on the finding here.
The United States Mission in Uganda and the Swedish Embassy recently signed a joint loan portfolio guarantee agreement with Centenary Bank, one of the largest Ugandan commercial banks, to oversee the expansion of credit access to the private health sector in Uganda. The agreement will see an extra $3 million USD to the 75 percent of the Ugandan population who obtain their health care primarily from the private sector. Read the full article here.
Strengthening Health Outcome through the Private Sector (SHOPS) Project is conducting a study on the willingness and ability of women in Malawi to buy more expensive, yet longer-lasting and reversible, implant contraceptives. Read more here and learn more about SHOPS research and evaluation process here.
Opportunities
CHMI is inviting all CHMI-profiled non-profit programs to enter GlobalGiving’s online fundraising Open Challenge! GlobalGiving is an innovative online fundraising platform for nonprofits of all sizes all around the world and CHMI is partnering with GlobalGiving to support your fundraising efforts! Fill out your Global Giving nomination form and make sure your CHMI profile is up-to-date by clicking the "Request a change" link at the top of your profile; providing us with any new information about your organization! Application forms are due November 1st!! More information on this opportunity can be found on GlobalGiving's site here, and you can learn more about the role CHMI is playing in these efforts here!