…Winners will support Gavi with advanced technological solutions focused on building climate-resilient health systems
…Gavi harnesses innovation to mitigate the effects of climate change on global health
MON OCT 07 2024-theGBJournal| Four global health innovators, from a pool of over 100 applicants, have been chosen as the 2024 Gavi Innovation for Uptake, Scale and Equity in Immunisation (INFUSE) Pacesetters.
The winners – Atlas AI from the USA, Causal Foundry from Spain, Figorr from Nigeria and Signalytic from Uganda – were selected from a shortlist of ten finalists by a panel of global health, technology and private sector experts after a two-day workshop funded by the Rockefeller Foundation in Nairobi, Kenya.
“Innovation plays a critical role in helping Gavi protect millions of people each year from preventable disease,” said Augustin Flory, Managing Director, Innovative Partnerships & Development Finance at Gavi.
“As climate change impacts the trajectory of infectious diseases like malaria and increases the severity and frequency of outbreaks, it has become increasingly urgent to find new solutions to these challenges.
This year’s INFUSE Pacesetters each offer the potential to transform immunisation delivery and at Gavi, we are committed to working with them to scale their activities and accelerate their impact,” Flory said.
Through the use of innovative solutions, the selected 2024 Pacesetters will address a number of critical gaps in immunisation efforts.
Atlas AI (USA) has developed an advanced geospatial platform that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics to identify and geotarget in the last mile in order to find ‘zero-dose’ children and missed communities; and predict how shocks will affect them.
Causal Foundry (Spain) engages health workers with adaptive tools such as personalised recommendations, an AI-based resource allocation system and tailored weather insights, enabling more precise and effective immunisation activities to prevent climate-related outbreaks and issues of access.
Figorr’s (Nigeria) solution offers end-to-end and real-time temperature tracking for vaccines and cold chain infrastructure – sharing recommendations and insurance products to improve cold chain efficiency. Sensors monitor temperatures continuously, transmitting data wirelessly to a central system, improving immunisation activities by enabling timely intervention, optimising distribution routes, facilitating proactive maintenance and supporting data-driven decision-making.
Oghenetega Iortim, CEO, Figorr, said: “At Figorr, we are revolutionising the cold chain industry in Africa with real-time data to ensure the safe, efficient and reliable movement of temperature-sensitive products across the globe.
Being part of Gavi’s INFUSE community is an exciting milestone that will enable us to extend market access and presents an opportunity to scale impact in lower-income countries, helping protect vulnerable populations from vaccine-preventable diseases.”
Signalytic (Uganda) provides a solar-powered, high-speed digital experience for related software in any health centre, making it possible to generate, store and share health data within and across remote health clinics.
Since its launch, INFUSE has cultivated a community of global health innovation players, including 21 INFUSE Pacesetters, dedicated to overcoming vaccine delivery challenges in Gavi implementing countries. For example, INFUSE Pacesetter Nexleaf monitors the vaccine supply for 1 in 11 babies born globally each year, with more than 34,000 remote temperature monitoring devices deployed.
Thanks to Nexleaf, the United Republic of Tanzania is becoming the first lower middle-income country to achieve end-to-end visibility into its vaccine cold chain. Zipline’s drone delivery service has helped deliver more than 14 million vaccines in Rwanda, Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria, reducing by 60% vaccine stock-outs at Zipline-served facilities compared to non-Zipline facilities.
Building on the support from the private sector and the Gavi Matching Fund, initial investments in INFUSE Pacesetters totalled over US$ 60 million, leading to more than US$ 200 million in follow-on funding for global health innovators.
“As global health innovators with long-standing partnership with Gavi, Zipline is keen to see more innovations changing the immunisation landscape. Participating in the workshop was a great opportunity to share lessons learnt and successes achieved on our journey. We are thrilled to see a new wave of innovators coming up through INFUSE,” saidSineka Samuel, Partnerships Director at Zipline.
“With the support of The Coca-Cola Foundation, INFUSE and PLM are accelerating the scaling of immunisation-related innovations. This workshop enables us to deep dive into the next generation of promising solutions, and we look forward to supporting their implementation” said Adrian Ristow, Executive Director, Project Last Mile.
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