The WHO estimates that up to 1 million people die annually from malaria. While existing diagnostic tests are accurate, they are not as skilled in identifying carriers who don’t show symptoms, but are still able to transmit the disease to other people. That’s why three Dutch developers have created Amplino, a device that aims to eradicate malaria by identifying hard-to-detect cases.
Can there be a world without malaria? It will require an expansion of current strategies and innovative solutions, such as the Rapid Assessment of Malaria device, which uses refrigerator strength magnets and a laser point to diagnose malaria, and Malaria Consortium’s use of mobile technology and village health groups to support community health care.
Treating malaria, HIV, and other diseases in remote and economically depressed areas is a monumental challenge, but accessible testing methods must be in place before treatment can even begin. With half a million deaths per year from malaria alone, there is a desperate need to find an affordable, intuitive, and portable diagnosis solution. To address this, QuantuMDx is developing …
Global Handwashing Day (October 15) celebrates soap as a ‘do-it-yourself vaccine’ that prevents against infection and saves lives. This everyday, affordable product not only fights off diarrhea and respiratory infections, but is now – thanks to the creation of Faso Soap – also a tool for malaria prevention. Faso Soap is an innovative mosquito-repelling product designed by two students from …
The Kew centre in London is a finalist in the Google Impact Challenges UK competition, wherein it is showcasing a “mini-acoustic sensor” which, if successful, provides a real-time alert to the presence of disease carrying mosquitoes. KEW’s innovation is one of 10 other projects that could be awarded up to £500,000. The Google Impact Challenges competition seeks to award funding to 10 charitable projects that use innovative technology to change the world.
Innovate Development is pleased to present a weekly series featuring projects funded and supported by Grand Challenges Canada. This is the second in a four-part series in which we cover topics surrounding mothers and children in the Global South. For more information about Grand Challenges Canada, please see the bottom of this post or go to their website, www.grandchallenges.ca. ‘E-Coupons … 
One of the largest hurdles in the fight against malaria is reliable detection. There are many strains of the disease, so reaching for a cure-all pill without a proper diagnosis can do more harm than good. Often medication is given for the wrong type of malaria, or to patients who have a different ailment altogether. Standard testing can be expensive …
In her first year as a Life Sciences student at the University of Toronto, Jessie MacAlpine has developed a plant-based drug to fight the effects of malaria. The project’s name is Mustard Oil as an Apicomplexan-targeting Drug Therapy for Plasmodium falciparum, which won the Best Category for Medicine and Health Sciences at the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. She …
Malaria kills over 255,000 people every year, but supplies of a central ingredient for effective drugs come from the sweet wormwood tree, the output of which fluctuates from year to year. The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation have funded a project that uses readily available baker’s yeast, often used for bread and beer making, to substitute for the artemisinin supplied by …
