The Global Alliance for Legal Aid (GALA) is an association of jurists who provide legal aid and advocate for the public interest in developing countries. GALA’s goal is to assist legal aid lawyers to help the poor to reclaim their rights and to promote public interest advocacy and litigation. Student intern Caitie Goddard developed a social impact assessment strategy and built GALA’s presence in social media.
The Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to strengthening integrated health systems in the developing world and expanding access to care and treatment for HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. CHAI’s solution-oriented approach focuses on improving market dynamics for medicines and diagnostics; lowering prices for treatment; accelerating access to life saving technologies; and helping governments build the capacity required for high quality care and treatment programs. Student intern Amy Hendricks worked with the global- and country-based malaria teams to investigate whether limited access to capital affects markups and other costs throughout the pharmaceutical supply chain.
PATH is an international, nonprofit organization that creates sustainable, culturally relevant solutions, enabling communities worldwide to break long-standing cycles of poor health. Student intern Julianna Oswald developed a supply chain strategy for a Non-Pneumatic Antishock Garment (NASG), a medical device which treats women with uncontrollable postpartum hemorrhage by controlling the bleeding, reversing the shock, and stabilizing the patient for safe transport to a comprehensive obstetric care facility. At the time of this internship, the device’s benefits have been limited by its high cost of distribution and large minimum order requirement. Oswald’s work helped alleviate these barriers and enabled broader distribution in order to save more mothers’ lives during childbirth.
The Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) is a global health organization committed to strengthening integrated health systems in the developing world and expanding access to care and treatment for HIV/AIDS, malaria, and tuberculosis. CHAI’s solution-oriented apprach focuses on improving market dynamics for medicines and diagnostics; lowering prices for treatment; accelerating access to life-saving technologies; and helping governments build the capacity required for high quality care and treatment programs. By coordinating with the Tanzanian, Ghanaian, and Ugandan Ministries of Health and non-governmental organization (NGO) partners, student intern Dave Yeh conducted detailed analysis to develop an effective pharmaceutical distribution system.
Technology for Tomorrow has successfully developed numerous technologies that have gained international attention including: MakaPads – a low cost sanitary napkin made sustainably from papyrus; MAK IV Incinerators ignited by waste paper and a match used for burning medical waste; and the ISSB compressed mud bricks. The group has also designed the Bicycle Energy Generator (BEG), an on-demand, human-powered electricity generator. Engineering and SNRE dual degree student intern Chelsea Ransom provided technical assistance in assessing the potential energy output of the BEG. She also tested the transferability of this technology to the urban and rural Ugandan markets. She trained technicians in rural Uganda, evaluated the feasibility of spreading this technology, assessed energy needs and market niches for this product, and looked to link with microfinance organizations in the area that could provide seed funding to the entrepreneurs.
Abt Associates is a mission-driven, global leader in research and program implementation in the fields of health, social and economic policy, and international development. In Uganda, Abt partnered with the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) to improve the availability of ORS/zinc, an effective treatment for water-borne illnesses, through private sector retail channels. The student MAP team studied the existing rural distribution network structure of competing wholesalers to gain an understanding of how the networks overlapped. This gave the team a better understanding of how the market id divided, and how to engage more effectively with these wholesalers. The team also examined the system of incentives that were in place within the wholesaler supply chain and below. This allowed them to advise Abt and CHAI how to best structure a system of performance-based, financial incentives to promote increases in supply-side capacity.
Virika Hospital is a private, not-for-profit hospital owned by the Catholic Diocese of Fort-Portal, and is located in Western Uganda. The student MAP team developed mechanisms to maintain and analyze information that helped the operations of the facility.
The purpose of the Malaria Taxes and Tariffs Advocacy Project (M-TAP) was to understand the role of taxes and tariffs on price and access to anti-malarial commodities and t develop an advocacy and communication strategy. The goal was to identify and minimize the direct and indirect negative impacts of taxes and tariffs on anti-malarial commodities through targeted policy reform and advocacy.
Providing healthcare in remote areas presents a variety of interrelated and complex issues including affordability and availability of medicines. This research specifically explored the lack of working capital within different layers of the healthcare distribution network as a factor influencing access to essential medicines.