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5 facts to know on World Mosquito Day !

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On World Mosquito Day, iKure shares 5 important facts to curb the outspread of the menace.

1. This day is observed every year on the August 20th , to commemorate the discovery of the female Anopheles mosquito as the notorious vector for the transmission of Malaria,through the Plasmodium parasite, by the British Scientist Sir Ronald Ross…as back as in 1897. This feat was possible by this great scientist in the premises of the current SSKM Hospital in Kolkata, India.The day is celebrated every year at the Mosquito Center in ‘London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine’, amidst wide fanfare of students,researchers and young scientists in honour of the pioneer scientist who discovered the fact.

2. Mosquitoes are of different species….and the dreaded ones are the Anopheles,AedesAegyptiand Culex variants….and they are regarded as creatures of International menace!

3. There are different types of Malaria depending on the specie of the plasmodium parasite…the most fatal one being Falciform Malaria,(Malignant Malaria…being a dreaded complication).If treated properly and in time, many of the Malaria deaths can indeed be averted. It still remains a preventable disease targeted only by mosquito control measures….in the immediate environment of the community.

4. Dengue/ Dengue Fever is, as of recent another dreaded disease, with not much treatment resource being available for the condition and the mortality has been escalating in the past decade or so.It is caused by the Dengue Virus which is transmitted by the AedesAegypti mosquito as vector, and the high morbidity and mortality could be ascribed to the complications developing due to this infection in humans. DHF (Dengue Haemmorhagic Fever) / DSS (Dengue Shock Syndrome) are the two usual complications of this illness and the latter being quite serious, unless hospitalized management begins soon and in a deft manneras per standardized and universal management protocol of the condition!Other mosquito borne illnesses are Japanese B Encephalitis/Filariasis/Chikunguniya/Zika/Yellow Fever etc. which have different degrees of morbidity profile, depending on host resistance/immunity and the treatment available to the affected population.

5. India and the African continent and elsewhere have been affected by such diseases for many generations now and the mosquito control by all conceivable measures still remains a big challenge, which the governments are trying to grapple with!

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Tech, Travel, Uncategorized

Population Scale Impact Through Societal Platform Lens

iKure’s journey started in 2010 to address the inadequate and inaccessible primary healthcare for the last mile using technology. We have impacted 12 M population across 8 states in India. We have the data capability powered by AI and machine learning algorithm for actionable research interventions and many more. With a full proof model, we began at a small scale. But soon, we learnt the limitation of the model that could reach only a fraction of the population when the problem was common for 70% of the India’s rural villages.

We wondered, can iKure solve the problem individually? Can we create doctors overnight or build infrastructure to solve the problem at scale? The answer was no. The problem is dynamic and multivariant in nature. On one hand, we have primary health centres that remains ineffective and less utilized due to the shortage of staff, resources and quality care and on the other hand, India with a vast population of 1.3 billion needs to build 200,000 health and wellness centres to address the demand and supply gap. In this context, iKure with 200 centres was insignificant to match up to the need.

Societal Platform thinking was important for us to reflect that technology can be the key enabler to scale, but it cannot bring different actors co-create solution together and amplify at a population scale. iKure aimed to build a shared infrastructure for multiple actors to come together to solve the common goal. We wanted to create such infrastructure, where people can access the health system with hope and newer possibilitiesThe Naga telehealth was an effort to introduce the platform thinking of co-creating together with the Government, technology partners, research partners, NGOs and grassroot members. The system opened access to healthcare, prevention and wellness for the entire state of Nagaland leveraging 192 sub health centres and 19 primary health centres.

The prototype model is adapted in Khunti District, Jharkhand with JICA to transform the ineffective health system into a dynamic one. It is serving the district hospitals, community sub-centres, and primary health centres. This has set an example for other state governments to follow, where we are partnering with 5 State governments to leverage the shared digital infrastructure for greater utilization and access to health and wellness centres and promote prevention and awareness at the community level through frontline health workers. The platform is also available in hybrid model to drive rapid adaption and evolution in local context using physical health workforce presence at patient’s door-steps. The shared digital infrastructure has co-created network of engagement at different levels. It has enabled remote health monitoring services through NGOs and self-help groups and addressing the behavioural and cultural barriers that cause vaccine hesitancies in rural villages through frontline health workers. It will bring 200,000 frontline health workers using the shared infrastructure at a mass level. In all these cases, the architecture design needs to foster trust and ownership. Use of AI model can only find relevance, if the platform ensures data privacy for all the actors in the ecosystem. Towards this, iKure is working with ODI-Microsoft to develop an automated open data platform ensuring right data reaches to right hands. A shared and collective understanding of different stakeholders can solve the problem of healthcare in totality. Through our shared infrastructure, we aim to reach out to our beneficiaries irrespective of where they are.  iKure through SP lens believes the power of shared infrastructure can amplify its potential to serve at a population scale.

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