Innovation + Impact E-newsletter February 2021

Join Global Health on Follow CII on FEBRUARY 2021 FEATURE   Celebrating Our Innovators Responding to COVID-19 Domestically and Internationally Innovators supported by the USAID Grand Challenges for the past outbreaks of Ebola and Zika are responding to COVID-19 not only in low and middle-income countries but also in the United States. Baylor College of Medicine, a 2014 Ebola Grand Challenge winner, just unveiled its second SmartPod in Harris County Texas for COVID-19 testing. Designed in the wake of the 2014 Ebola outbreak, the SmartPod is a deployable field hospital with the trappings of a modern hospital. Another Fighting Ebola Grand Challenge innovator, Kinnos, is being used in the New York subway system. Kinnos produces Highlight, a powder added to a disinfectant that turns blue to show when a surface is fully covered. The blue color then disappears to indicate when a surface is decontaminated. Combating Zika and Future Threats innovator, Shift Labs, which produces a simple IV infusion rate monitor, is now deployed throughout the US.  These examples demonstrate how innovation for one purpose can yield unexpected and domestic benefits as needs arise. CII is proud to support these impressive innovators who have quickly pivoted to tackle new needs from COVID-19, speaking to the limitless potential of innovation.                 Kinnos color-changing Spray                 Baylor College of Medicine SmartPod  INNOVATIVE FINANCE     Applications of Finance in Global Health: Blended Finance Panel The Private Sector Engagement (PSE) Hub hosted a MarketLinks webinar on Applications of Finance in Global Health. The expert panel included CII's Amy Lin; Gene Peuse, Senior Public Private Partnerships Advisor, USAID/Tanzania; Kristi Ragan, Chief of Party, USAID INVEST and was moderated by Priya Sharma, Director, Scalable Innovation, USAID/PSE Hub. The panel discussion walked through highlights of CII's Blended Finance Roadmap, how it was applied in Tanzania, and current innovative finance activities in health from Afghanistan to Vietnam to the 5 Sub-Saharan countries included in Open Doors African Private Healthcare Initiative (ODAPHI). Overall, the discussion noted the importance as well as challenges of using innovative finance in global health.         DIGITAL HEALTH     Health and Financial Services in the Middle East and North Africa: Time to go digital The USAID-funded Sustaining Health Outcomes through the Private Sector Plus project hosted an interactive e-conference on digital developments for health and financial services in the Middle East and North Africa. The e-conference featured findings from a SHOPS Plus assessment on the topic, perspectives from subject matter experts, and a discussion on the wide-reaching potential for digital services to improve health outcomes, increase financial inclusion, and expand universal health coverage. CII's Innovation Advisor, Ankunda Kariisa, moderated a panel discussion on insights from experts in the field from GSMA, Women's World Banking and the Jordan Payments and Clearing Company.    INNOVATION     Muso announces long-term partnership with the government of Côte d'Ivoire   Muso, a global health organization that uses a three-step proactive care model through Community Health Workers to save lives, announced the launch of a long-term partnership with the government of Côte d'Ivoire (GoCI). Over the next decade, the partnership will work to pursue rapid, universal access to health care for Côte d'Ivoire's 26 million people. This announcement follows a one-year technical assistance partnership where Muso supported the GoCI Department of Community Health in building a supervision strategy for more than 11,000 CHWs across Côte d'Ivoire. Muso was featured in CII's Global Health Innovation Index, and received funding from USAID's Development Innovation Ventures (DIV), which enabled Muso to reach 350,000 patients in Mali and conduct large-scale operational research. Muso team members with senior members of Côte d'Ivoire's Ministry of Health in November 2019  VIRTUAL EVENTS February 25, 2021 Prescription for Progress Devex March 11, 2021 Emerging smarter: Re-imagining health industries in real time The Economist March 17, 2021 Lessons from the world's first development impact bond for maternal health GO Lab CII NEWS India Impact Investing News Recent Blended Finance Initiatives in India February 5, 2021 The Lancet Safety, adherence, and HIV-1 seroconversion among women using the dapivirine vaginal ring (DREAM): an open-label, extension study February 1, 2021 Muso Muso's Leaders receive the Charles Bronfman Prize January 12, 2021  NEWS Equity Tool Davidson Gwatkin Equity Measurement Prize February 2021 idr How funders in India can better manage the risks of big philanthropy February 11, 2021 The Center for Global Development Expanding Health Product Manufacturing in Africa: Ideas for Development Finance Institutions, Procurers, and Policymakers February 10, 2021  WHAT WE'RE READING The New York Times Foreign Aid Is Having a Reckoning Apolitical 7 ways digital can boost Covid-19 response and recovery Protecting Global Gains Innovation pays dividends against COVID-19 and TB in Karachi DataRobot How to Start Tackling AI Bias Part 1: The Human Side of AI Bias Vaccine Finding equipoise: CEPI revises its equitable access policy CII Staff Spotlight       Sylvia Boulos is a Market Access & Innovative Financing Advisor Sylvia Boulos is a Market Access & Innovative Financing Advisor in the Center for Innovation and Impact (CII) in the Global Health Bureau at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). She focuses on market-shaping and financing efforts to accelerate the introduction and scale-up of innovative global health products and services across disease areas. She also works on CII's effort to help scale-up private sector engagement. Prior to joining CII, Sylvia worked at the World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank and other multilateral development agencies. She has a deep interest in bridging the gap between sustainable development through private sector engagement and market development and global health. Read Sylvia's full interview here. The Center for Innovation and Impact (CII) in USAID's Bureau for Global Health encourages business-minded approaches and accelerates impact against some of the world's most important health issues. CII invests seed capital in the most promising efforts and applies a rigorous, market-oriented approach to cut the time it takes to transform ideas from the drawing board into impact on the ground.     Stay Connected with USAID Global Health         Unsubscribe | Update Your E-mail Address | USAID.gov | Privacy Policy   If you have questions or problems with the subscription service, please contact subscriberhelp.govdelivery.com. Ogilvy is sending these announcements on behalf of USAID's Bureau for Global Health. Ogilvy is located at 1111 19th St. NW, Washington, DC 20036 • (202) 729-4000