Xinova seeks innovators support to tackle Malaria in Northern Nigeria
Better data will help turn the tide against Nigeria’s most deadly killer, malaria, which escapes diagnosis and treatment at a large scale partly due to inefficiencies within the nation’s medicine-and-supplies tracking systems.
Xinova, a global market network of innovators, technology providers and investors from over 100 countries, with support from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced a project to identify breakthrough approaches to improve the timeliness, quality and visibility of data for the malaria supply chain in Northern Nigeria.
Malaria is the leading cause of death in Nigeria, accounting for 18-percent of all deaths and 26-percent of the mortality rate for children under the age of 5.
Effective supply chains are a critical condition of success in the fight against malaria and depend on data to make sure that the right products are available in the right places at an acceptable cost. Despite recent enhancements to data capture and reporting systems in Nigeria there is still an opportunity to improve the speed and accuracy of supply chain data flows.
This challenge is made more acute by the disparate malaria product supply chains across thousands of government, private and NGO clinics, pharmacies and drug shops.
There are an estimated 54 million cases of malaria per year, leading to an estimated 82,000 deaths in Nigeria alone.
Xinova is seeking innovators to participate in a collaboration to identify new approaches to improve the ability to track malarial supplies. The top ideas will be pitched directly to the foundation for follow-on funding.
The ultimate goal is to deploy and test one or more concepts in the field and measurably improve the supply chain. People driven to help solve this pressing problem may apply here. The call for applications closes on May 13.
Partnering with Xinova will allow the foundation to discover new solutions to this problem since many technologies already exist, but are not suitable due to specific cultural, political and socio-economic factors in Nigeria.
The process begins with one of the most difficult aspects, understanding and defining the problem itself. Xinova will then assemble a team of innovators who are adept at crafting breakthrough solutions to address both technical and economic requirements.
These outside experts will bring broad technical capability and are free to challenge existing assumptions.
Innovators will work alongside domain experts to quickly iterate ideas and develop them into robust solutions to address this problem.
“This partnership signifies a serious intent to engage worldwide resources toward solving the Nigerian malaria crisis and underscores the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration to address some of today’s biggest problems,” said Edward Jung, founder and CEO of Xinova. “People everywhere want innovation that is more meaningful and purposeful: Innovators seek better ways to use their expertise; technology seeks meaningful application; corporations desire more efficient deployment; markets want improved ways to reward solutions that address problems of great value and impact. At Xinova, we align these intentions to amplify the impact of innovation for everyone, so we can build a better world.”
Jung is one of the top 15 inventors in history, holding more than 1,000 patents worldwide across healthcare, computing, networking, energy, and material sciences and a co-founder of Global Good, a provider of innovative R&D to organizations such as the Gates Foundation.
Furthermore, with more than a dozen startups under his belt, many focused on addressing some of the most prominent issues facing humanity, the partnership with the Foundation is a natural extension of his life’s pursuit.
Xinova’s collective of global innovators, technologies and investors solve big problems for corporations like Pepsi as well as for governments and NGOs.
Xinova’s network consists of many of the brightest minds our world has to offer, including members who are tackling climate change, bringing science to politics, or commercializing a new super-ingredient.
To learn more about Xinova’s Innovation Market Network and how the company aligns the key innovation resources of talent, technology, capital, and demand.
All participants will be paid for their time and travel. The top two concepts will each be awarded $10,000 for further project development and will be given the opportunity to pitch the Gates Foundation for a grant to test and deploy the solution.
