December 12, 2017

Rajni, 23, pregnant with her second child is down and depressed. Persistent fever, weakness, and dizziness have taken a toll on her overall health. Medical help from local providers and traditional caregivers – the only resource available in her remote Pangawan village in Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh, India – has not produced any improvement and in fact, has made her condition worse.

November 02, 2017

Healthcare entrepreneurs in low- and middle-income countries need growth capital to build their capacity and expand their social impact. Yet, because innovations are still nascent, these enterprises are often unable to absorb significant traditional capital. Recognizing this gap in funding, the Pfizer Foundation launched the Global Health Innovation Grants (GHIG) program in 2016 to deploy funding and support for healthcare enterprises around the world. Innovations in Healthcare serves as project advisor to GHIG and measures both grantee and portfolio performance of the program.

September 14, 2017

Here is a scenario of two girls. The first girl has access—to a smartphone, strong education systems, and routine health exams— and thus, access to the potential of a healthy life. The second girl lives in a slum and is lucky to have one good meal per day. She does not have access to proper sanitation, misses school when she menstruates, and has a very high chance of becoming pregnant before she finishes secondary school. She was born into a scenario which has isolated her from choice and control over her personal well-being.

July 27, 2017

Take a look at the number of SMS text messages sent in Kenya between October and December of 2016: 15.8 billion. When you consider the population of Kenya, that number rounds into 35 SMS text messages per person. While some people read that number and see a nascent technology ecosystem, others view that number as an opportunity – a chance to get ahead of the wave.

July 11, 2017

When walking by a new clinic and deciding where to receive care, one of the first aspects that a patient will notice is the name and brand of the clinic. Is the name recognizable? What about the logo and colors? Do the provider names or partners sound familiar? These were some of the questions asked during last month’s site visit to LiveWell Clinics, one of our Innovations in Healthcare (IiH) innovators.

June 27, 2017

It is not every day that you walk into a business office and see drawings of sexual organs on the wall. At least, not intentionally. In a society where sexually explicit images litter billboards and television screens, there is still a discomfort in talking about our bodies. How does this work? You do what with that? Reproductive health education is a no-no, but sexually explicit music videos are a yes-yes. So how do we move forward? Innovations in Healthcare (IiH) innovator, ZanaAfrica Kenya, answers this question by flipping the reproductive health narrative on its head.