Defeating Childhood Diseases

Millions of children die every year because they lack access to medicines that cost less than a few dollars. Living Goods trains and supports community health workers to educate families to prevent the leading causes of child mortality: malaria, diarrheal disease, and pneumonia, including education about water, sanitation, proper nutrition, and ensuring families seek care promptly when children are sick. When a child falls ill, CHWs provide prompt diagnosis and treatment using our smartphone app, and several simple questions reliably guide CHWs to an accurate diagnosis. The app sends automatic daily text reminders to ensure patients complete the full course of treatment and also flags acute cases for immediate referral to a qualified facility. CHWs follow up on referrals within 48 hours to ensure the patients received proper care. We focus on children under five–particularly newborns and children under one–who are typically at greatest risk. Some CHWs also sell low-cost, high impact health products, such as treated bed nets to prevent malaria and water filters to stop the spread of diarrheal disease.