Same team and mission, but now under a new name
Since 2010, the Ujenzi Charitable Trust has supported the world’s poor and vulnerable by innovating ultra-low-cost medical solutions. Many of the disruptive technologies funded by Ujenzi have been incubated through our engineering lab, Vayu Global Health, which was also founded by Dr. Thomas Burke.
To create a unified, cohesive brand between our 501(c)(3) nonprofit and the Vayu engineering lab, we’ve decided to form the Vayu Global Health Foundation. In the beginning of 2020, we will rebrand our website and transition everything over to our new name.
Rest assured, our team and mission remain the same: to address the world’s most pressing health challenges.
What else is in store for 2020?
We’re ready for another productive year! Here are 5 of the most exciting plans we have for 2020:
Saving mothers during childbirth
- ESM-UBT distribution: Now that we received FDA approval for our UBT device, we will be moving quickly to make the device available globally. We’re getting support from Harvard Business School to help us develop a commercial strategy and business plan to ramp up distribution worldwide.
- Save Mothers, Stop PPH! platform: We’ve been collaborating with the International Federation of OBGYN and several world leading health organizations on a new website to raise awareness and standardize approaches to stop postpartum hemorrhage (PPH). We’ll be launching the website this year and in 2020 we’re expanding to involve more organizations and practitioners in Rwanda, Kenya, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Belize, and beyond.
Saving babies from respiratory distress
- Vayu-bCPAP: Now that our final injection molding is complete, we’ll be able to plan for commercial distribution next year. We’ll setup production tooling in February and begin new field tests and the FDA approval process in the first quarter of 2020.
We’ve gotten enthusiastic responses to the device from field tests in both Tanzania and India who both want to expand as quickly as possible. In fact, we’ve had requests to support varying conditions within facilities. As a result, new adaptations and accessories are being developed for:
- Low air flow & high air flow oxygen blenders
- Retrofitting ambulances
- Retrofitting multi-occupant hospital rooms
We will also be hiring a Business Manager to help us coordinate testing, commercialization, and integration of the Vayu-bCPAP within health systems in different countries.
Raising Awareness & Training
- Vayu Mobile App: This month, we’re filming training videos to go into our new mobile app that will help us remotely train doctors and quickly get them answers to common problems.
We are excited to announce that not only will the app support the UBT and bCPAP devices, but we’re now expanding it to include training on ESM-Ketamine. This program delivers a safe recipe for alternative anesthesia to enable emergency life-saving surgeries that wouldn’t otherwise be possible without an anesthetist.We expect to begin piloting the app with training on all 3 solutions soon!
- Speaking Engagements: As you likely know, our founder, Dr. Thomas Burke, is on a nonstop journey around the globe to not only improve care in underserved communities, but also to raise awareness about global health epidemics like maternal and infant death.Thomas has plans to present at the University of Göttingen in December, FOGSI (the annual India OBGYN Society meeting) in January, Yale in February, and several others in the works.
How YOU can help
We’ve made great strides this year and want to build on our momentum over the next 12 months.
After years of development and testing, our two primary devices, the uterine balloon and bubble CPAP, are finally poised to be mass distributed to the poor facilities that desperately need them.
Through your generous contributions and the help of the Gates Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, we’ve raised half of our fundraising goal this year! However, we do need more help to accomplish all that we have planned.
You can find out more about this once in a lifetime opportunity here:
Ujenzi Global Impact Initiative: Saving Mothers and Babies Worldwide
If you or anyone you know are able to help us reach the finish line and put these life-saving devices where they are needed most, please reach out to us or visit make a donation.
