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International Partnership for Innovative Healthcare Delivery seeks applicants to join network

whcchealthinnovations — Tue, 17 Jan 2012 21:50:09 +0000

WHCC Health Innovations would like to share the opportunity below from the International Partnership for Innovative Healthcare Develivery (IPIHD). The organization grew out of the World Economic Forum and is housed at Duke University. Its mission is to expand accesss to sustainable health care projects, especially in developing countries. IPIHD is partnering with the 9th Annual World Health Care Congress, coming up April 16-18 in Washington, D.C.

IPIHD is accepting innovator applications for IPIHD Network membership. All innovators with active operations are welcome to apply (free of cost). IPIHD believes that the achievement of global access to cost-effective and high-quality healthcare is a critical component to achieving the fundamental aim of reducing healthcare delivery inequities in the world. As such, membership is free to healthcare innovators. Innovators can apply to join here: http://www.ipihd.org/joining-ipihd/innovators

IPIHD leadership will review and select applicants based on defined criteria within the next month. Others interested in following and connecting with IPIHD, including innovators, can join the IPIHD Community here for updates tailored to individual interests. All are invited to ‘like’ IPIHD on Facebook and follow @IPIHD on Twitter.

Background to IPIHD : http://www.ipihd.org/about-ipihd/background-to-ipihd

GE Healthymagination Initiative exceeds goals

whcchealthinnovations — Tue, 17 May 2011 16:30:05 +0000

One of the highligths of the WHCC Health Innovations Exhibit at the 2010 World Health Care Congress was GE’s Vscan ultrasound. A demonstrator showcased the pocket-sized device on an actual person who was laying on an exam table on the WHCC exhibit hall floor.

The product, which allows doctors to conduct an ultrasound more quickly and less expensively than with a traditional ultrasound test, also holds promise for the developing world, where access to traditional ultrasound machines in limited.

The Vscan is part of GE’s healthymagination program, which was launched two years ago with the goal of “revolutionizing the world’s healthcare by focusing on high costs, disperate quality and inadequate access.” In its recently released second annual global report, GE offers that healthymagination has exceeded its Year 2 goals with $2.2 billion invested and 43 innovative technologies validated.

8th Annual World Health Care Congress welcomes International Partnership for Innovative Healthcare Delivery

whcchealthinnovations — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 16:38:52 +0000

The 8th Annual World Health Care Congress, to be held April 4-6 in Washington, D.C., is pleased to welcome the a strategic partership with the International Partnership for Innovative Healthcare Delivery (IPIHD).

The IDIHP is closely alligned with WHCC’s 2nd Annual World Health Innovation Summit, which will gather representatives from more than 50 countries to discuss health innovations from the developing world that can be applied to developed countries.

McKinsey & Company, one of the IPIHD supporters, has identified more than 30 successful private sector examples of private health care organizations that are using innovation to provide quality, effective care at low cost. For example, Medicall Home in Mexico provides telephone based advice and triage to more than 5 million people. For a fixed fee of $5 a month, billed through their phone bill, two-thirds of callers have their healthcare issue resolved over the phone. In India, LifeSpring maternity hospitals offer high quality, no-frills, maternity care at one-fifth of the cost of comparable private-sector competitors (an accessibly priced $40 rather than the typical $200). IPIHD recognizes many of the most forward-thinking innovations emerge in developing countries because of the significant demand for innovation.

Innovations McKinsey has identifed will be on display at part of the WHCC Affordable Health Innovations Poster Exhibit.

In addition to McKinsey & Company, the IPIHD is organized through the support of Duke Medicine, World Economic Forum, Aetna, Astra Zeneca, Medtronic, Merck, Novartis, Sanofi-Aventis and Zuellig Group. The World Health Innovations Summit will feature participation from the following IPIHD representatives:

-Dr. Viktor Hediger, Partner, McKinsey & Co. Inc. as Summit Chairman on April 4th
-Olivier Raynaud, MD, Senior Director, Global Health and Healthcare Sector, World Economic Forum – Geneva
-Victor Dzau, MD, President and Chief Executive Officer, Duke University Medical Center and Health System

BP Agrawal, Sustainable Innovations, keep drinking water flowing in India

whcchealthinnovations — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 19:34:11 +0000

In Rajasthan, India’s driest region, social entrepreneur and innovator Dr. BP Agrawal believes a “River From the Sky” is the answer to providing arid villages with fresh drinking water.
After decades working in research and development for global companies such as General Dynamics, Dr. Agrawal turned his attention to his non-profit organization Sustainable Innovations. One of the company’s major initiatives is solving the dramatic water shortage problem in his native Rajasthan, a region in north eastern India with 56 million people and 40,000 rural villages. His efforts during the past five years earned him numerous awards, including the 2010 $100,000 Lemelson-MIT Award, presented by The Lemelson Foundation. Dr. Agrawal recently visited MIT to share insights on his work during EurekaFest, a mutli-day celebration designed to empower a legacy of inventors through activities that inspire youth, honor role models and encourage creativity and problem solving.
Dr. Agrawal also presented posters on innovations at the World Health Care Congress in April and the World Healthcare Innovation and Technology Congress last November.
The implications of inadequate access to clean drinking water are, of course, dramatic.
The World Water Development Report 2009 estimated 80 percent of health problems and 5 million deaths per year in developing countries are linked to inadequate water and sanitation.
“River From the Sky” is the English translation for Aakash Ganga, a project Dr. Agrawal developed that maximizes the use of rainwater by the channeling it from village roof tops into water tanks that can be used to supply villages with much-needed drinking and cleaning water.
Rajasthan suffers from a 10-month annual drought. While it rains considerably during the two-month rainy reason, the region lacks the infrastructure to capture water and maximize its use. The Aakash Ganga system channels enough rooftop rainwater to provide a village with a year’s worth of drinking water.
If the concept sounds simple, the project’s development and implementation is not. Dr. Agrawal explained that he must navigate economic, social political and logistical barriers to make Aakash Ganga sustainable.
Poor basic health and sanitation are constants in Rajasthan. While a lack of running water and medicine are contributors, the psychology of the villagers can also hinder progress.
“Health care is pretty much non-existent,” said Agrawal. “They have accepted diseases as the normal aging process. They don’t event complain about them.”
Under the Aakash Ganga system, a portion of the water collected on a home’s roof is channeled into a tank for the family’s personal use. The rest of the water is channeled into a community reservoir and used by homes with thatched roofs that cannot collect water and families that cannot afford personal water tanks. The large shared reservoir is 400,000 liters or more in capacity, costs about $0.05 per liter to construct and has an infrastructural investment of $2-$3 per person per year. The network is designed to provide 10-12 liters daily per person. So far, it has helped 10,000 villagers gain access to clean water, and Dr. Agrawal hopes to replicate the system in many other villages.
In order to help make the system self-sustainable, Sustainable Innovations rent the roofs from the villagers, which provides them with income. Seventy percent of harvested water is sold or used for individual families. The rest goes to horticulture.
Sustainable Innovations has received a $200,000 World Bank Development Grant and matching funds from the Rajasthan Association of North America. Dr. Agrawal hopes to secure several million more dollars from India’s Ministry of Rural Development, Department of Science and Technology, the National Rural Drinking Water Program and social investors.
In addition to Aakash Ganga, Agrawal and Sustainable Innovations has developed a kiosk-based health clinics that can provide care at $0.25 per visit. The clinics are operated by high-school educated young women and are designed to alleviate the shortage of trained medical staff and improve standardized treatment protocols for common ailments and preventable diseases in India.

Boston Biotech Watch highlights health innovation at World Health Care Congress

whcchealthinnovations — Tue, 01 Jun 2010 14:03:01 +0000

Check out a recent blog post from Boston Biotech Watch on the health innovations on display at the 7th Annual World Health care Congress. The innovations were part of our Affordable Health Innovation Exhibit. The piece is co-written by Steve Dickman, CEO, CBT Advisors and writer Malorye Allison.