IXL Social Enterprise Case Studies Chronic Diseases October, 2013 | Page 12

Improving Chronic Disease Care in Slums by 2019

The start of something different
A non-profit startup called Watsi uses a
global crowd-funding platform allowing
any person to directly fund medical
services for individuals from developing
countries who are unable to afford
it. Watsi works closely with medical
partners who identify patients in need
and determine if patient conditions meet
pre-determined criteria. Watsi posts
patient profiles online and distributes
100 percent of donor funding directly
to chosen individuals. Watsi’s operating
costs are covered by other donations,
business partners and licensing software
fees. Although this reflects tremendous
opportunity to provide significant care in
the developing world, the model does not
currently support continuing health needs
that often develop from chronic disease.
Source: https://watsi.org/

Knowledge is power
A study of 150,000 women from slums
in India has shown that a simple vinegar
test can reduce cervical cancer mortality
rate by 31 percent. Slum dwellers can’t
afford costly pap smears and traditional
HPV tests. This new method represents an
easy solution that can be carried out by
local clinics with minimum training and
modern laboratory equipment. According
to research estimations, this low-tech
exam could prevent 22,000 deaths in
India and 72,600 worldwide each year.
Source: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/
vinegar-cancer-test-saves-lives-indiastudy-finds

Technology allows better access
An underserved community of the Santa
Marta slum in Rio de Janeiro was chosen
for New Cities Foundation’s Urban
E-Health Project. During an 18 month
trial, trained nurses visited 100 elderly
patients in one of the steepest favelas in
Brazil with a backpack that contained
high-tech medical monitoring equipment
developed by GE that enabled them to
detect an average of 20 different diseases
like hypertension or diabetes within
minutes. The pilot’s results reveal that
despite the initial cost of the apparatus
(42,000 USD), the integration of e-health
technology into the healthcare system
of underserved urban areas can lead to
major economic savings for the health
system as a whole, increased efficiency
for healthcare workers and better access
to vital healthcare for patients who need
it most.
Source: http://www.
newcitiesfoundation.org/wp-content/
uploads/PDF/Research/New-CitiesFoundation-E-Health-Full-Report.pdf

As patents expire, more and more medications are legally permitted to be sold as generics and are
therefore more likely to meet quality standards (Figure 9).
In addition, the World Trade Organization (WTO) passed an agreement in 1995 known as TRIPS
that allows governments to issue licenses that allow non-patent holders to manufacture and
market a medicine in a domestic market.59 This agreement has led to more competition in the
generics market and significantly lower prices. Because of the TRIPS agreement, the price of AIDS
medication in Brazil fell by 82 percent.60

Figure 9. Generic pharmaceuticals are becoming more common as patents expire

Better medicine is making healthcare more accurate
As more pharmaceuticals become available as generics, so too are new and better drugs being
discovered and developed. Funding for pharmaceutical research is funded by government grants,
private corporations, and even new breeds of NGOs like the Aravind Eye Care System. New
diagnostic methods, like the pancreatic cancer screening test developed by 15 year-old Jack
Andraka, are allowing people to diagnose faster, cheaper, more reliably and often in the comfort of
their own homes. The entire medical system is continuing to mature and take a more holistic view
of health, integrating modern medicine with more traditional techniques. These trends offer hope
that the developing world will have the opportunity to leap-frog technologies in healthcare, as it has
done with mobile technology in the telecom industry.
Virtual solutions and telemedicine are beginning to offer lower-cost health options
For the last several decades, technology innovations have been decreasing in price and complexity,
allowing more of the world’s population to have access to a variety of different services. The
healthcare industry is no exception. Since the early 1990s, technology enabled programs have
become an increasingly significant part of programs implemented in low- and middle-income
countries (LMICs) (Figure 10).61

Figure 10. Technology-enabled health solutions are becoming more prevalent

Not only have these solutions increased the quality of care, understanding, and access that slum
dwellers have to healthcare, but they have also dramatically lowered healthcare costs.62

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