International Finance Corporation, World Bank & TechEmerge innovations in Health

If you have been following my posts, you know that in 2016 IFC launched a unique health innovations acceleration program called "TechEmerge". It is a World Bank initiative to Accelerate the Adoption of Health Technology Innovations in Emerging Markets. The first program took place in India, Brazil and will be launched later this year in East Africa.

I worked as a consultant and Advisor to the program to shortlist innovations, review pilot proposals, bring hospitals onboard and launch pilot projects. I also held webinars and mentoring sessions with startups to help them understand business models, market opportunities and challenges. You can see some info sessions on this link: https://www.slideshare.net/health2dev/techemerge-webinar-understanding-the-basics-healthtech-in-india

Innovations that caught my attention recently-#Healthtech

No. 1- Lyme bacteria use the same technique as White Blood Cells to navigate and move in blood vessels In an interesting case of convergent evolution Lyme bacteria use the same technique as White Blood Cells to navigate and move in blood vessels.To zip through the bloodstream and spread infection throughout the body, the bacteria that cause Lyme disease take a cue from the white blood cells trying to attack them. Both use specialized bonds to stick to the cells lining blood vessels and move along at their own pace, biologist Tara Moriarty and colleagues report September 6 in Cell Reports. “It’s really an amazing case of convergent evolution,” says Wendy Thomas, a biologist at the University of Washington in Seattle who wasn’t part of the study. “There’s little structural similarity between the molecules involved in these behaviors, and yet their behavior is the same.” No.2- Wearable Robot for people who lost their hand function This wearable robot helps disabled patients re...

PDAs in Healthcare -Passe or in Vogue

The PDA is a very small and portable, handheld computer, which has many more functions than a calculator, and the capacity to store information much like a Personal Computer (PC). Basic functionality available on most PDAs includes an address book, schedule, calendar, note pad, and e-mail. The PDA is convenient to use in clinical and field situations for quick data management, and the information can be synchronized with a PC . By means of a wireless network, information can be exchanged anytime from anywhere to and from a PDA, and the network will provide immediate access to all kinds of necessary clinical and administrative data . Health care professionals need access to information several times a day, and the PDA has the potential to provide this. For the PDA, there are numerous documents and medical software applications available, with a wide variation in quality. A large number of medical students take advantage of the PDA for educational purposes and patient care with great sa...

Mhealth - Counterfeit Drugs India

WHO tells a story “By April 1999, reports of 771 cases of substandard drugs had been entered into the WHO database on counterfeit drugs, 77% of which were from developing countries. (Data analysis showed that in 60% of the 325 cases for which detailed data were available, an active ingredient was lacking.)” Bad medicines don't just threaten lives; they undermine the entire medical system . What is being done? There are distinct aspects to deciphering and de-complexifying the counterfeit pharmaceutical supply chain. One that is probably more in use today by almost all pharmaceutical companies worldwide is the product-based tracking methodology which incorporates the use of high technology systems to identify counterfeit products in the market. These technologies include tamper-evident packaging, holographics, bar codes and the more recent RFID. Indian Scenario People buy two tablets and never a strip. The unique number idea doesn’t work here. Chemists know that t...

Data Revolution in Healthcare and Lifesciences Industry

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