AMR: The awful toll of superbugs in India’s hospitals
This article was originally published on SciDev.Net here. By: Ranjit Devraj The vigil for multidrug-resistant bugs is tight at the Holy Family Hospital, a charitable institution in the Indian capital known for its dedication to neonatal care. “We cannot afford to have newborns falling prey to difficult-to-treat bugs,” says Sumbul Warsi, medical director of the … Continued
With Help From UNICEF and Partners, Chad Eliminates MNT
Wonderful news for newborns and mothers in Chad, and everyone who cares about them: Maternal and neonatal tetanus (MNT) has been declared eliminated in Chad. On behalf of the World Health Organization (WHO), Dr. Jean-Bosco Ndihokubwayo, WHO Representative in Chad, presented the official certificate of merit to Chad’s Minister of Public Health, Mahamet Aziz Saleh, … Continued
Portable kit to treat babies with jaundice goes on trial in Peru
Health workers in a remote province high in the Peruvian Andes are trialling a revolutionary method to treat babies with jaundice – with nothing more than a colour-coded ruler, blood reader and carrycots. Their goal is to screen, diagnose and treat jaundice in 12,000 newborns over the next two years in a country where 90% … Continued
Kenya’s first human milk bank finally ready to save babies’ lives
Had Alice Onyango given birth at another time, things would have been different. She would have had to express milk from her aching engorged breasts – the milk that her preterm baby had no energy to suckle – and pour it down the drain. But the mother of three gave birth last week at Pumwani … Continued
Most Pregnancies Last 9 Months. Why Is the Deadliness of Childbirth Still Taking Us by Surprise?
Vaccines help to dramatically reduce maternal and neonatal deaths. Article by Anuradha Gupta, Deputy CEO of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance Measles, cholera, and diphtheria can kill quickly and without any warning. Yet with childbirth we get nine months’ notice, and it still kills more people every year than these three diseases combined. It’s not just … Continued
Pneumonia: how the world’s biggest killer of children became a neglected disease
When two-year old Sienna Wilson suddenly developed a fever in the middle of the night the first thing her parents, Kate and David, suspected was malaria. When the doctor arrived in the morning he agreed. He began treating her accordingly. Hours later, unconscious and in a critical condition, Sienna was airlifted to a private hospital … Continued
WHO publishes new estimates on congenital syphilis
Global decrease but cases remain high, causing 200 000 stillbirths and newborn deaths every year 27 February 2019: New estimates published today show that there were more than half a million (around 661,000) total cases of congenital syphilis in 2016, resulting in over 200,000 stillbirths and neonatal deaths. Syphilis is one of the most common … Continued
EarlySense Selected by Save the Children for an Evaluation of Neonatal Health Monitoring Technologies in Africa
WOBURN, Massachusetts, Feb. 5, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — EarlySense, the market leader in contact-free continuous monitoring solutions across the care continuum, announced today that it has been selected for a pilot project with Save the Children, an international nonprofit that works in 120 countries. This work is supported by a grant from the Bill & Melinda … Continued
Malawi: Time for Action to Ensure All Hospitals, Everywhere Have Water
During countless visits to maternity wards without safe water, what I hear time and time again are stories of trepidation – women who fear the very worst outcome for them and their newborn. Vitumbiko, 25, had heard stories about women dying during childbirth at her local health centre. She didn’t tell anyone how worried she … Continued
This doctor built a portable machine to save newborn babies from dying of jaundice across rural India
The first article on our #StartupBharat series shines the spotlight on innovations from Tier II and III cities and towns across India. This week, we feature Dr Kiran Kanthi of Lifetron Innov Equipments. The startup, incubated at Sandbox Startups in Hubli, Karnataka, has built a portable, affordable solution to treat jaundice in newborns. It has … Continued