2022 Finalists and Proposals
Jiptha Boiragee - The Leprosy Mission, Bangladesh - Bangladesh
Proposal: Scaling up pilot learning of digital leprosy complication care and follow-up in 20 districts across Bangladesh
Approximately 2500 people in Bangladesh require treatment for complications from leprosy each year; only six leprosy hospitals across five districts can provide these services, so complication care is difficult to access due to limited provision and distance from care points. Existing barriers to care access were exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the existing problem of accessing care for leprosy complications.
With support from the Sasakawa Health Foundation, TLM Bangladesh and ALO, a national-level leprosy peoples’ organization (LPO), jointly implemented an intervention called “Digital Leprosy Complication Care” in 11 districts during the COVID-19 pandemic. This virtual approach connected TLM’s medical staff with people needing leprosy complication care, as well as with local LPOs and family members who could assist with follow-up. Digital care reduced hospital admission, suffering, and family separation for people affected, while maximizing limited medical expertise. Learning from the pandemic intervention, this project will be scaled across needed areas to ensure availability of digital care for leprosy complications. View this finalist’s video.
Katherine Clayton - OmniVis - USA
Proposal: Rapid disease detection of yaws in Ghana
Yaws predominantly affects children under 10 years old and is considered endemic in 15 countries. In some cases, this disfiguring disease is mistaken for syphilis, leading to misdiagnosis and even ostracization of children affected. OmniVis, alongside Purdue University, seeks to develop a rapid diagnostic to distinguish yaws and syphilis.
OmniVis previously developed a handheld device and single-use disposable test kits to rapidly detect other infectious diseases. While the tests themselves can occur offline, OmniVis has also compiled data-gathering and reporting tools that can provide further insight on yaws hotspots for early warning of outbreaks. We propose to alter the chemistry in the single-use disposable test kits and incorporate Purdue University's yaws detection assay to detect specifically for yaws and syphilis using loop-mediated isothermal amplification (LAMP). We hope to pilot the technology in Ghana, which has a high prevalence of yaws. View this finalist’s video.
Mercy Obhiambo - Akros - International
Proposal: Putting the power of geospatial into the hands of the heroes of public health: Integration of Reveal & DHIS2 to scale end to end campaign planning and delivery
Health campaigns for malaria or NTDs provide consistently low population coverage. Interventions are required in unmapped rural environments, making it challenging for field teams to navigate and find rural villages. Data show that >40% of households are routinely missed. In 2017, only 31% of mass drug administration (MDA) for NTDs reached their targets. Working hand in hand with ministries across Africa since 2010, Akros has observed the challenges of delivering life-saving interventions to the last mile.
Akros has built a digital tool called Reveal (www.revealprecision.com) which provides geospatial maps for health campaign microplanning and delivery. Reveal gives community drug distributors (CDDs) the power of geospatial technology. CDDs are able to visualize their location in relation to targets requiring MDA. Stakeholders visualize on dashboards campaign progress, and can plan targeted mop-up activities if necessary. Currently, Reveal is used in six countries for malaria or MDA campaigns. For the sustainable scale and government uptake of the platform, Reveal must integrate with existing health information systems (HIS) like DHIS2, which is primary where Reveal operates. We propose integrating Reveal with DHIS2, thereby offering the platform tools to any country operating this system. View this finalist’s video.