Technology innovation for child & adolescent health and wellbeing
Background
Africa’s burgeoning population presents an unprecedented opportunity from the demographic dividend of sustained rapid economic growth in the coming decades. As its fertility rate declines, Africa’s working-age population will expand more rapidly than the children and elderly populations combined, producing more potential workers per dependent. If this expanded workforce can be productively employed, this could sustain a prolonged economic boom that could contribute to drastically reduce poverty in Africa. However, without the right pre-conditions, Africa’s demographic boom could turn into a demographic burden, with mass deprivation, scarcity, unemployment and low productivity, with negative implications for the continent’s stability and security. Investment in children is Africa’s best hope to set the right pre-conditions for this potentially massive and transformative demographic dividend. Scientific research underscores the critical importance and the link between the child’s access to good health in their earliest years, and educational achievement and productivity in adulthood.
Objective
To develop novel essential technologies that are adapted to the context of low income countries focussing on improving the health of children and youth in sub-Saharan Africa. In order to ensure large-scale and sustainable impact, we aim to also develop associated business models and the critical value-chains, including local manufacturing capability, capacity building, maintenance and recycling plans.
Solutions based on technology innovation and entrepreneurship have the potential to not only radically improve the health and wellbeing of children and adolescents, but also to offer new perspectives to young dynamic and entrepreneurial Africans. As a world leader in innovation, Switzerland is well positioned to harness its know-how and the power of technology innovation towards cultivating a more prosperous outlook for the youth in Africa.
Expected Benefits
- In partner countries: Overall, the desired impact is a marked reduction in mortality and overall improvement in health and well-being of children and youth. Local capacity building and catalyzing entrepreneurship and the creation of businesses, in order to enable sustainable impact from the results of the proposed interventions.
- In Switzerland: The program will contribute new products to the healthcare sector and will help the Swiss industry to gain more market share and a competitive edge in the emerging and developing markets. The technologies applied to the African settings are optimized for costs and durability, which are also desirable features in Switzerland. They will therefore contribute to creating companies and cutting healthcare costs in Switzerland (frugal/reverse innovation).
Contact Information
Klaus Schönenberger, Tel: +41 21 693 60 83
EssentialTech Center, EPFL
