When I think of philanthropy, I think about giving time or money to help a cause. Last month, I saw Dr. Harshad Sanghvi, an internationally recognized expert on maternal/child health, speak. He made me think about philanthropy in way that had not occurred to me.
Dr. Sanghvi made a poignant point on the impact Community Health Workers, with minimal training, can have on reducing the over two million child birth related deaths a year. However, he also made me realize the importance of bioengineering on making these Community Health Workers successful.
I am not a person naturally drawn to science and could probably not define the term bioengineering if asked. However, Dr. Sanghvi pointed out the urgent need for culturally adapted, extremely affordable, and easy to us tools for people with almost no training.
For example, preeclampsia/eclampsia is one of the main sources of maternal/child deaths. One of the innovations the bioengineering field is working on is a blood pressure cuff that is simple enough for use by Community Health Workers who may not even know how to read, durable enough for harsh, rural environments, and takes advantage of large manufacturers to reduce the price.
Another solution for detecting preeclampsia/eclampsia is a Magic Marker test. This device allows the Community Health Worker to test protein levels in a pregnant women with a special pen that is easily portable and costs less than a penny. Early detection of this number two killer of pregnant women is lifesaving for both mother and baby. You can see a brief video about Dr. Sanghvi's work and the Magic Marker here.
Postpartum hemorrhaging is another leading cause of death in the developing world for delivering mothers. This is a condition women almost never die of in the United States. To help solve this problem, bioengineers have developed a pill for women in remote, rural communities which greatly reduces their risk of postpartum hemorrhaging. The Community Health Worker gives it to the pregnant women to carry with her at all times and is taken at the onset of labor.
Another example that illustrates the need for innovated minds focused on solutions to health problems in the developing world is a new way to test for cervical cancer. Eight-five percent of the 250,000 women who die of cervical cancer are in poor countries. In some countries, if a women was even able to get to a doctor for a pap smear, it would take years for the labs to have the capacity to evaluate the results. Experts at John Hopkins Medical School have developed a simple procedure where a health worker can use vinegar to detect precancerous spots and the ability to freeze them off immediately with carbon dioxide, available from any Coca-Cola bottling plant. New York Times
A new alliance between Jhpiego, John Hopkins Center for Bioenginnering Innovation and Design, and Laerdal Global Health called Day of Birth Alliance, has committed to developing and producing 10-15 products to reduce maternal/child health in the developing world.
TAKE AWAY:
Bioengineering might not define myself as your Everyday Philanthropist, but I am glad that it defines the organizations and people who are committed to developing innovations to reduce everyday fatal risks in poor communities, risks that don't even cross our minds, let alone that we associate as fatal.
As Dr. Sanghvi says, "There's no point in having technologies that are super duper but can get only to two-percent of the population. We need those kinds of technologies that can get to everybody and that everybody can afford."
