ICT4D News Roundup – June 16, 2017
Welcome to our weekly #ICT4D News Roundup! We are passionate about the intersection of technology and social good. Each week we look for the best articles that focus on the ICT4D industry, the issues that impact the sectors we work across, and interesting content for social enterprises.
Highlighted articles this week:
- Is it possible to bring healthcare to everyone, everywhere? Two experts share six ways to spread access to care globally. – Ted.com
- Read how community health workers are helping to reduce child mortality rates in Madagascar by increasing access to umbilical cord care for newborns. – USAID
- How exactly does the U.S. spend foreign aid? This article shares a broad overview of the state of U.S. foreign aid and highlights bipartisan input on the arguments for and against U.S. aid. – Council on Foreign Relations
- Why is data the new “currency” in agriculture, and who uses it? (note: this is the final article in a three-part series) – AgFunder News
- Can India’s healthcare system keep pace with its growing population? Read about the challenges and opportunities that lie for healthcare in India. – First Post
- Learn about five innovations helping reduce maternal mortality. – Girl Talk HQ
THE CHALLENGES OF BRINGING HEALTHCARE TO EVERYONE, EVERYWHERE
Raj Panjabi and Seth Berkley are both successful physicians dedicated to closing the global healthcare divide. In this article, Panjabi, the co-founder of Last Mile Health, and Berkley, the leader of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, sit town with Ted.com to discuss global healthcare challenges and six ways to improve access to care.
Around the world right now, more than one billion people don’t have access to basic healthcare. That means no checkups, no vaccinations, no medications, all because of the environment in which people live. They might be too poor to visit a clinic, or they might live too far from one, but the result is the same, and often fatal. It’s a problem that troubles many.”
Raj Panjab recently sat down with Devex to discuss his work with Last Mile Health as a “systems entrepreneur.” Read the Q&A in our April 14th ICT4D News Roundup.
IMPROVING UMBILICAL CORD CARE BY SETTING AN EXAMPLE IN MADAGASCAR
In Madagascar, child mortality rates remain high. This is why USAID funded the Mikolo project in 2013, which supports almost 6,700 community health volunteers who provide care to new mothers and their babies. Read this article to follow Herilalaina Livarison, one of the volunteers who is changing umbilical cord care in Madagascar and helping reduce child mortality. Note: Mikolo is using CommCare on this project to support the community health workers.
Future mothers do not always realize the dangers associated with babies’ navels exposed to bacteria. During door-to-door sensitizations, I also recommend that they regularly go to the nearest health center for antenatal care consultations, and I teach them how to spot danger signs.”
HOW DOES THE U.S. SPEND ITS FOREIGN AID?
Today, U.S. foreign aid is under increased scrutiny because of the Trump administration. The shift in policy priorities has renewed the debate around why the U.S. provides financial assistance abroad. To help readers better understand why U.S. aid exists, this article highlights nine key questions about foreign aid and offers a bipartisan response to the arguments for and against U.S. aid.
National security concerns have continued to drive U.S. assistance policy, aiming to provide stability in conflicted regions. Other objectives, related to but separate from U.S. national security, also drive assistance. These include most notably humanitarian relief efforts to respond directly to acute disasters, poverty reduction, health care, and other development programs.”
For more on this debate, check out our May 26 ICT4D roundup where we highlighted an article from NPR titled, “Should America Keep Giving Billions Of Dollars To Countries In Need?”
DATA AS AGRICULTURE’S NEW CURRENCY: ADVANCING TO THE NEXT LEVEL
This is the final article in a three-part series that explores the data revolution in agriculture. The first part explored how to improve agriculture data to make it more actionable and accurate, and the second part explored the farmer’s point of view. This final article looks at who uses agricultural data (hint: it’s a lot more than just farmers), and why we need to improve data accuracy for all stakeholders.
Better data collection will help everyone involved in agriculture, but farmers have reason to be skeptical about broadly releasing vital data from their farms, which they might see as offering greater benefit to the rest of the value chain than to the individual farmers themselves. The industry needs to commit to data privacy, accuracy and ownership principles.”
Did you miss the other two parts of this series? Read our recaps in our May 19th and June 2nd ICT4D Roundups.
INDIA’S HEALTHCARE SECTOR: A LOOK AT THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FACED BY THE $81.3 BILLION INDUSTRY
As India’s population grew over the past 25 years, so did the strain on its healthcare system. Today, India is currently facing a “dual disease burden,” or in other words, a rise in both communicable and non-communicable diseases. This article addresses the key challenges the healthcare system in India is facing, as well as the innovations set to improve the system.
As that happens, in rural areas, mobile technology and improved data services are expected to play a critical role in improving healthcare delivery. Although limited, some companies are also investing in innovative services and creating lucrative yet low-cost digital and device solutions, an example of which would be GE Healthcare’s Lullaby Baby Warmer.”
5 INVENTIONS CREATED TO PREVENT THE EPIDEMIC OF MATERNAL MORTALITY AROUND THE WORLD
In 2015, over 300,000 women died from pregnancy or childbirth-related complications. Fortunately, there are a number of organizations that are working to create life-saving innovations to improve maternal healthcare. This article from GirlTalkHQ dives into five of these innovations, one of which is CommCare.
With the Trump administration’s implementation of an expanded Global Gag Rule (effectively cutting off $8.8 billion in funding worldwide), comes the reality that it could affect and increase maternal mortality rates greatly. This is why innovation and focus from the non-profit and private sector are an important and powerful piece of the puzzle to solving the maternal mortality problem globally.”
CommCare has been used in 60+ projects globally to support community health workers (CHWs) who provide care to mothers and children. With CommCare, CHWs are able to do their work more efficiently by supplementing or eliminating the need for paper records and providing them with a job aid that supports counseling, decision-making, and referrals for emergencies. Learn more here.
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