Erik Hersman: BRCK Breakthrough
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Erik Hersman is an innovator and technologist focused on advancing the use of technology as an empowerment tool in the developing world.
Rajesh Panjabi and Josh Nesbit: Making an Impact
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After surviving Liberia’s civil conflict, Raj Panjabi co-founded Last Mile Health to tackle the triple threat facing health care in post-war countries: a battered public sector, workforce shortages and rampant poverty. Pioneering a community-based health system, Last Mile Health serves as a scalable, public sector model for achieving equity in health, now on the front lines of the ebola crisis.
Having pioneered the use of mobile phones for healthcare in a remote region of Malawi, Josh Nesbit co-founded Medic Mobile to bring these innovations to the rest of the world. The model features a central clinic laptop running FrontlineSMS software, enabling community health workers to use mobile phones to coordinate patient care.
Prabhjot Singh: Mobile Health
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Prabhjot Singh is the co-chair of the One Million Community Health Worker Campaign, an initiative of the African Union and the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network that designs and tests how community health workers can be more effective using mobile tools in the developing world.
He has recently brought his experience to Harlem where he focuses on developing community-based health care delivery systems.
Singh has scaled up networks of front-line health workers across sub-Saharan Africa. He discusses his work bringing this health care model to Harlem to “train people in their communities to take an active part in their health care outside the walls of a hospital or clinic.”
He is a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Young Leader and a Truman National Security Fellow. Singh’s work shows us that communities are the ultimate catalysts of systems change, especially when they are successfully integrated into their own health care and development systems.
more at: www.1millionhealthworkers.org
Paul Needham: Owning electricity
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Paul Needham’s organization, Simpa Networks, makes solar energy available to the poor. By using a pay-as-you-go pricing structure modeled after mobile phone cards, Simpa gives its customers ownership of the electricity. Once the initial cost of the equipment is paid off, the device belongs to the customer and their electricity is free. |
World Water Day special: Is the water still flowing?
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“Is water still running?” is perhaps the most important question when considering water initiatives worldwide, concludes Water for People CEO Ned Breslin. He’s tired of seeing broken hand pumps and taps litter Africa, Asia, and Latin America. These signs of failed projects underscore the critical need to overhaul water aid for real impact.
How not to save the world according to Kevin Starr
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Kevin Starr, Mulago Foundation director, looks for the best solutions to the biggest problems in the poorest countries. He thinks all projects need to answer four questions: Is it needed? Does it work? Will it get to those who need it? Will they use it correctly when they get it? Too many bad ideas are using up our limited resources and that needs to change.
