Innovation Countdown 2030 (IC2030), an initiative led by an international nonprofit organization, released its inaugural report on July 13, which features 30 innovations that have the potential to transform global health and save millions of lives by 2030.

The report, Reimagining Global Health, was announced at the Third International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa.

IC2030 is led by PATH, the frontrunner when it comes to global health innovation, with support from the Norwegian Agency for Development and Cooperation, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID).

The report involved a yearlong process in which more than 500 innovations were nominated from over 50 countries, with a goal of propelling investment and support for health technologies.

Each innovation was assessed by dozens of international health experts, leading to the 30 that are featured in the report. Each innovation was selected for the potential it has to save lives and transform global health.

The innovations cover four health areas: maternal, newborn and child health, infectious diseases, reproductive health and non-communicable diseases.

The report also includes commentary from leading experts in health, business and technology on the important role innovation plays in driving health impact.

One such expert is Amie Batson, the chief strategy officer for PATH. In the report, she emphasizes four key strategies to help further innovations in global health.

The strategies are: sourcing health solutions globally, pinpointing the most cost-effective innovations, creating new devices concentrating on financing and coordinating investments.

These approaches are seen in PATH’s cost impact modeling process, a feature the nonprofit created with its partner, Applied Strategies.

Specifically, the model measures how many lives are saved, the number of cases of disease avoided, and the costs for health innovations.

Two innovations seen in the report and evaluated with PATH’s cost impact modeling process have to do with preventing infections in newborns and stopping diarrheal disease from contaminated water from reaching children.

Chlorhexidine is a low-cost antiseptic used in umbilical cord care to prevent infections in newborns. Every year, thousands of newborns die as a result of unsanitary conditions during birth and not having access to antiseptics for the first week after being born.

Chlorhexidine, which comes in liquid and gel form, can be applied to the umbilical cord stump after birth at a safe and effective concentration. By doing so, the chance of infection is greatly reduced.

More importantly, health workers or family members can use the antiseptic at home.

It’s estimated that, by using Chlorhexidine, 1,004,000 neonatal lives can be saved between 2015 and 2030, with a nine percent reduction in deaths caused by sepsis. A scaled-up use of the antiseptic is expected to cost $81 million.

The second innovation has to do with preventing diarrheal disease in children by using chlorine to disinfect water in small communities.

Developing countries often have shortages in clean water, as not only are most public water systems inadequate, but many households don’t have the necessary resources to purchase treated water.

As a result, new tools have been developed to disinfect water at sources in small-scale communities. One such tool, the Zimba automated batch chlorinator, fits on hand pumps and community taps, and chlorinates the water with no need for electricity or moving parts.

The device has the capability to disinfect up to 8,000 liters of water before the chlorine dispenser needs to be refilled.

Estimates show that, by chlorinating water in small-scale communities, 1,515,000 child lives will be saved, with a 16 percent reduction in diarrhea-related deaths. In addition, the disinfecting devices will save $1.2 billion because of the decrease in the number of cases of diarrheal disease, leading to a reduction in treatment costs.

Moving forward, PATH wants to build on IC2030 to give a greater voice to global innovators. The organization also wants to engage experts from different subject matters and raise awareness and visibility about possible lifesaving innovations.

– Matt Wotus

Sources: PATH, PR Newswire, The IC2030 Report
Photo: Flickr