IIH in the News
News
- Aahan expands to Nagargama, Bihar
The Aahan TB program received its first patients from the Nagargama panchayat, a population of about 14,000. This expands Aahan's catchment area to about 28,000. Nagargama's population appears to be at a higher risk for TB than our existing catchment area of Keota. Nagargama is also more remote, with poorer access to healthcare facilities. Aahan has finished training 12 community health workers in Nagargama and a referral system is in place to find new cases.
- Physician workshop organized in Bihar
A workshop on TB diagnosis and treatment led by Samastipur's District TB Officer (DTO), Dr. Harendra Tiwari and WHO consultant, Dr. Rajeev Pathak, and organized by Aahan drew the top physicians in Dalsingh Sarai, Bihar. The objective was to harmonize protocols in the private sector with those recommended by the national TB program (RNTCP) and the WHO.
- uPrint deployed at 8 Operation ASHA centers
The uPrint fingerprint logging system has now been deployed at 8 DOT (Directly Observed Therapy) centers run by Operation ASHA. Nupur Bhatnagar worked with co-founder Bill Thies, Aakar Gupta and Navkar Samdaria of Microsoft Research to install and integrate the systems.
- Aahan's first patients
Aahan has started treatment of its first patients in the Keota village, Bihar. The patients are male, aged 35 and 45, and have been prescribed category II treatment under the national TB program (RNTCP). Both patients have tried and abandoned private treatment due to lack of money. Their treatment will last 8 months.
- Aahan TB program launched in Bihar
Innovators In Health, the Prajnopaya Foundation, and the Swasti Seva Samiti launched the Aahan TB program to provide world-class TB care to rural residents in Bihar. The program kicks off with an extensive survey of residents, healthcare providers and officials. About 700 subjects will be interviewed to understand firsthand the challenges in delivering TB treatment in rural Bihar, and shape interventions. Aahan will work with public and private healthcare providers and the national TB program (RNTCP) to find cases, facilitate diagnosis and ensure reliable delivery.
- MSR and IIH Test Biometrics Prototype
Bill Thies, IIH co-founder and researcher at Microsoft Research (MSR) India, demonstrated a fingerprint authentication system co-developed with Michael Paik (MSR, NYU) in a TB treatment center in Delhi run by Operation ASHA. The system tracks TB delivery by ascertaining that providers meet patients as claimed. In addition to TB, the system is also being piloted by Project Pragati in one of their health resource centers (thanks to MSR interns Julie Weber, Navkar Samdaria, and Aakar Gupta).
- IIHer Wins MIT PSC Fellowship
Radhika Malik, a MIT sophomore, won the institute's Public Service Center Fellowship. The fellowship will support Radhika as she helps deploy IIH's electronic medical record system at Operation ASHA, Delhi's largest TB treatment NGO. This is her second public service tour. She worked with ASHA this past Summer gathering requirements and developing an EMR prototype.
- IIH CEO Named Fellow of the MIT Center for Ethics
Manish Bhardwaj was named a 2008-2009 Fellow of the Dalai Lama Center For Ethics and Transformative Values at MIT. As a Center Fellow, Manish will focus on understanding and articulating a central challenge in public service: the chasm between the lives of social entrepreneurs and those they want to serve.
- Radio Interview
- HighTechFever TV show
- MIT Builds A Better Pillbox To Prevent Drug-resistant TB
- Time To Take Your Medicine
- A Smart Pillbox To Improve Medication Compliance
- Spotlighted on MIT's homepage
- Smart Pillbox Could Be A Lifesaver
- Smart pillbox joins the fight against TB
- MIT Honors Humanitarian Tech Invention