Published in News
The developed world should learn from success stories in developing countries. That’s according to a recent report in Globalisation and Health magazine.The series highlights key projects from Colombia to Ghana where innovative health development could change the way high income countries carry out their Global Health projects.
Reverse innovation
Also known as Reverse Innovation, low to middle-income countries, due to their resource poor settings often have to find ingenious solutions without added funding, access to electricity for lighting or constant internet connection.
One such example is Mpedigree, a social enterprise network from Ghana. They provide a mobile phone network that delivers services across Africa to patients and consumers to protect themselves from the fatal effects of drug conterfeiting. Users simply send a free text message with a verification code to one of mPedigree’s partners in Europe and receive an instant response confirming the validity of their medicines.
Whilst in Bogota Colombia, learning from the pouches of nature, provided simple a simple alternative to costly, often ineffective incubators. Known as Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC or skin-to-skin care), due to a lack of incubators for low birth weight infants in 1970s Colombia, mothers were encouraged to lay their babies on their chests in continuous skin-to-skin contact. Benefits include emotional regulation, increased nursing rates and lactation, improved sense of parenting, breastfeeding support and an early discharge). This innovation translates well to provide high quality care in resource strapped high-income settings.
Ten key areas have been highlighted that may provide vital insights to recession burned high income countries. These include rural health services, creative problem-solving, health financing and social innovation.
Successful working partnerships and international co-operation between high and low income countries are at the heart of the report’s success stories.