This is a guest blog written by Lane Goodman, Center for Health Market Innovations (CHMI).

In 2014 we looked on heartbroken as Ebola ravaged West Africa’s health systems, seemingly destroying the hope and recent progress on health outcomes. Health innovators searched for effective ways to respond, finding hope in programs and products working to stop new infections and combat the effects of the disease on poor communities. In Nigeria, we witnessed a success story; the mobile application used by eHealth Africa, originally designed to track and prevent polio, was instrumental in contact tracing Ebola, decreasing reporting times for new cases by 75%. Many analysts have pinpointed contact tracing as a major asset in Nigeria’s ability to eradicate Ebola. The tech market is a booming industry in Nigeria, contributing nearly 8% to its recent boost in GDP. Not surprisingly, this economic shift has transformed health markets in the country, with nearly half of Nigeria-based programs in the CHMI’s database using ICT to enhance their processes.

By identifying programs such as eHealth Africa, analyzing their impact, and connecting them to potential partners, funders, and interested researchers, the CHMI supports the diffusion of promising practices working to ensure better healthcare for the poor. The CHMI provides information about over 1,400 such programs around the world.

Highlights: Findings From 2014 identifies healthcare programs, policies and practices, documents and analyzes promising practices and spotlights programs with potential for scale up and adaptation within and across borders. Read about more than 70 programs working to make quality healthcare, delivered by innovators, affordable and accessible to the world’s poor.

Key insights from Highlights: Findings From 2014 include:

• The CHMI is now proud to present improved profiles for over 1,400 innovative health programs in more than 130 countries around the world.
• 85 programs have reported 148 new examples of scaling up in 2014, including offering a wider range of services, replicating their programs in new countries, adding more facilities, and increasing the number of people served.
• Health programs in rapidly changing health markets are improving and expanding access to quality care. Read about the innovation landscape in the Philippines, Nigeria, and Pakistan.
• More programs are reporting promising results with the integration of technology and mHealth platforms into Maternal and Child Health. In Mali, Djantoli community health workers have used mHealth to help track and prevent disease among over 3,500 children since 2010.
• New research on the Indian pharmacy Medplus shows the market-wide impacts of entry by the retail pharmacy chain on drug quality and prices of entry in Hydrabad. Other private pharmacy chains show evidence of increasing quality and reducing prices of medicines through partnerships with drug companies, ensuring protection for the poor.
• The CHMI Reported Results initiative is ensuring that innovators gain access to information on “what works.” The 1,170 results reported by CHMI-profiled programs include improvements in health outcomes, affordability and population coverage.
• Furthering our network’s knowledge of what works, new research previews include lessons learned by members of the CHMI Primary Care Learning Collaborative, results from the Rapid Routes to Scale review of over 450 primary care programs, and indications for innovative ways to empower women by investing in certain health business models.
• A new system to increase visibility for programs with completed, up-to-date profiles and monitoring & evaluation systems in place will help CHMI present promising innovations. Read more about CHMI Plus, and learn how this new system spotlights health organizations that are focused on measuring and reporting their impact.

Read CHMI’s Highlights: Findings From 2014 to learn more about 71 pro-poor innovations improving healthcare around the world.

Without prejudice to the author of this blogpost, GSMA Mobile for Development mHealth does not represent, warrant, undertake or guarantee that the information in the blogpost is accurate, complete or non-misleading.

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