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…is low in thiamin, putting their infants at risk of developing beriberi. Solution Fish sauce is a commonly consumed condiment in the Cambodian diet. The researchers sought to test the benefit of a thiamin-fortified fish sauce as a simple, cost-effective and sustainable product to raise maternal blood and breast milk thiamin levels to reduce the…lower concentration (2 g/L thiamin) and a control (no thiamin). Pregnant women and their families in Cambodia were randomized to consume one of these three fish sauces for six months. To ensure that no babies suffered from beriberi, each family in the study participated in a nutrition education workshop to learn about the signs and symptoms of infantile beriberi, thiamin-rich foods, general nutrition information, and best practices for infant and young child feeding. Outcome The project was successful in improving the…Through this project, the research team formed a new partnership with the National Sub-Committee for Food Fortification (NSCFF), Ministry of Planning, in Cambodia, who are considering scaling up thiamin fortification of fish sauce to the wider population. The group is exploring the potential for this intervention to become part of the government-mandated fortification program. Advocacy…

…is slow and may result in further progression of the disease, or further spread. Molecular techniques are promising but are not widely used. This implies the need for portable and miniaturized, easy-to-use, low-power and inexpensive point-of-care (POC) platforms, which are highly suitable for use in resource-poor and low-income settings. Solution Chip-based platforms are ideal for implementing POC systems as several hundreds or thousands of miniaturized devices, with dimensions in the nano- to micro-scale, can be integrated into a single platform using scalable manufacturing methods. However, their lack of integration with suitable sample preparation systems has restricted their use in…

…year, with the highest mortality rates in developing countries. Often, surgery is the only appropriate treatment. Injuries often cause large, deep wounds and incisions that are difficult to close and many doctors in developing countries are not equipped with the necessary surgical equipment to treat these wounds. The current method for wound closure uses secondary thick sutures to first pull the wound edges in close proximity and then smaller sutures to close the wound. This can create additional…However, it was found that the rigid device was too limiting and did not properly conform to the curves at the wound edges. A clinical trial was designed to assess the effectiveness of a revised device to close deep wound openings that were too wide for stitches. A team of scientists, engineers and surgeons from…

…landmines, natural disasters, congenital conditions, and diseases such as polio and cerebral palsy have left hundreds of thousands of endemically poor children in need of quality prostheses. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), approximately 30 million people in low-income countries require prosthetic limbs, braces or other assistive devices. However, only 5–15% of the people who need…them. Obstacles to access include a shortfall of 40,000 orthopaedic personnel, time-consuming and labour-intensive production methods that require an average of five days to produce a prosthesis, and significant costs to patients, especially those who travel vast distances for treatment. Without prostheses, children with disabilities face social ostracism and a dramatically reduced quality of life, which often limits their ability to access education and future employment.…to the patient’s residual limb. Initiated by cbm Canada in 2013, the 3D PrintAbility concept was developed by researchers at the University of Toronto and Autodesk Research, and supported by Phase I funding from Grand Challenges Canada. 3D PrintAbility is a digital design and production toolchain, complete with custom software and affordable hardware (scanner, laptop and 3D printers), that…

…countries with the highest rates of multi-drug resistant (MDR) TB:  9.4% of newly diagnosed cases and 43% of previously treated TB cases were MDR. Lack of adherence to TB treatment contributes to the high number of MDR TB cases in Armenia and the traditional direct-observed treatment (DOT) using health professionals is not very effective. Solution…traditional DOT. The alternative, multi-component TB outpatient care strategy among pulmonary drug-sensitive TB patients in their continuation phase of TB treatment included: 1)  Training and psychological counselling for TB patients and their family members 2)  Weekly TB outpatient centre visits to see TB providers and receive medication 3)  Self-administered drug-intake, supervised by a trained family…evaluated Control arm: 92.9% (184) treatment success; 5.1% (10) lost to follow-up; 0 treatment failed; 1.5% (3) died, and 0.5% (1) not evaluated. There was no statistically significant difference between the intervention and control arms regarding the treatment outcome. For the study’s primary outcome, the two strategies achieved similar clinical effectiveness. The evidence from the…Armenia and other important TB stakeholders in the country. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Armenian Medical Fund will be approached for matched funding to scale up the project. Results of the study have been presented at conferences, including the 46th Union World Conference on Lung Health, Cape Town, South Africa, and the 8th…

Issue In Tanzania, malaria is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality, accounting for about 30% of out-patient visits. Prompt access to antimalarial medications is at the core of an effective treatment program, requiring appropriate treatment within 24 hours of onset of fever. In Tanzania, drug shops are the commonest source of anti-malarials but, despite …stakeholders:  the Kilosa District Council; the Management Science for Health Center for Pharmaceutical Management, an international organization that has successfully worked in Tanzania to establish and scale up the Accredited Drug Dispensing Outlet (ADDO) program throughout the country; the National Malaria Control Programme (NMCP) / Global Fund for AIDS Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM; SAREC, a…

…infectious diarrhea every year, the majority being children below the age of five in developing countries like Kenya and India. Most diarrheal diseases worldwide can be attributed to contamination of drinking water by microbial pathogens. Solution The project team has developed a low-cost (~$3), point-of-use copper device designed to kill waterborne pathogens, to prevent infectious diarrhea. The primary objective of the current project was to measure the effect of a low-cost, copper-based disinfectant device in…and three control) in Karnataka, India, and two sites in Kenya (one intervention and one control), consisting of a total population of 1,774 and having contaminated water supplies, were selected for study. Households in the intervention group received the device in a 10-liter water can, along with a demonstration on how to use and care for it, while…

Issue According to the Tanzania Commission for AIDS (2008), the town of Njombe in southern Tanzania has the highest prevalence of HIV in the country (14.8%), with the incidence increasing in young adults. In this town, knowledge on HIV prevention and control is low and there is no formalized HIV education program in local schools. …18 months of the project. Ten YPHEs (generally five boys and five girls, evenly spread across Grades 4, 5 and 6) were selected to represent their schools. Groups of 30–40 YPHEs would come together for two days each week, for a five-week period, to be trained in leadership skills, children’s rights and responsibilities, gender equality,…training so that they could support the YPHEs and ensure sustainability of the program within the 50 schools. Youth knowledge and attitudes related to sexual health improved significantly, with pretest score means of 63% rising to 80%. Two school districts formally adopted the YPHE program and identified goals of implementing the program into select schools…

Issue More than 95% of tuberculosis (TB) deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, and it is among the top five causes of death for women aged 15 to 44. Access to current rapid and sensitive technologies in low-income countries is limited, because of their cost and complexity. Molecular tests such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR)…repeatedly move the sample onto each heating surface would also need to be developed, as well as a miniaturized cartridge for containing the sample. Outcome The team designed and fabricated the mechanical and controller-free thermal cycling mechanism, which is based on the Geneva Wheel mechanism and uses low-cost mechanical parts and zero-cost structural and insulation…develop a fully functional prototype. A heating module was developed for each target temperature, which achieved precise temperature generation that was reached in less than five minutes upon starting the chemical reaction with water, and was maintained for more than one hour. The mechanical cycling mechanism developed is entirely mechanical and electricity-free. The team is…

Issue In 2004, 17.1 million people died from cardiovascular disease and 23.6 million people will die every year by 2030. Echocardiography and electrocardiography (ECG) are used to provide needed detailed information for diagnosis of heart disease, but accessing these tools is difficult in low-income countries because of their expense. Solution The project sought to develop a low-cost, easy-to-use medical…