In 2019, PATH used innovation to break down barriers to women’s and children’s health, including for malaria, pneumonia, postpartum hemorrhage, HIV, and postnatal care. PATH’s work also led to strides in advancing immunization coverage and equity, use of health data, and strengthening the health systems needed to keep vulnerable populations safe.
PATH has developed and adapted more than 100 technologies that save the lives of mothers and newborns. This year, PATH continued our search for an integrated array of cost-effective solutions to the global burden of childhood pneumonia, including vaccines, access to diagnostic tools, and treatments. In 2019, PATH continued to ensure access to reliable oxygen delivery systems through participation in both the Tools for Integrated Management of Childhood Illness initiative (funded by Unitaid) and the Increasing Access to Safe Oxygen and Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health Devices project, which build on our past oxygen work to improve quality of, and access to, tools like pulse oximeters. We are also providing technical assistance and building capacity in support of oxygen delivery scaleup.
PATH is on the front lines of the fight against malaria in Africa. In April of 2019, PATH and Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) announced VivAccess, a 5-year initiative funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to support countries in the elimination of P. vivax malaria through adoption and use of new and existing tools. In Ghana, Kenya, and Malawi, PATH is working with the ministries of health, WHO, and vaccine developer GSK to support the phased introduction and evaluation of the world’s first malaria vaccine. And, PATH worked with drug developer Sanofi and more than 20 countries across Africa to create a new manufacturing process for a semisynthetic version of the lifesaving drug artemisinin (ssART).
PATH’s Devices, Diagnostics, and Drugs to Address Women’s Needs Product Development Partnership is working to develop and introduce a portfolio of affordable, accessible, safe, and effective devices, diagnostics, and drugs to prevent or manage preeclampsia/eclampsia (PE/E) and postpartum hemorrhage (PPH). Innovations supported by this partnership include an electricity-free infusion pump for the delivery of lifesaving fluids for PE/E (the RELI Delivery System) and a uterine balloon tamponade for low-cost and minimally-invasive management of PPH (the Sinapi Ellavi UBT).
PATH is committed to building and strengthening health systems that can sustain high-quality, equitable, people-centered care across all contexts. One of the ways PATH seeks to accomplish this goal is through policy advocacy—building political will for better health and helping to bring solutions to scale. For example, in 2019 PATH’s advocacy was able to help nearly double Uganda's budget for routine immunizations, as well as to support all 26 governors in the DRC signing the Kinshasa Declaration committing to improve immunization resources and accountability in the provinces.
PATH is a leading innovator and champion of vaccines and immunization programs for underserved children around the world. PATH’s Center for Vaccine Innovation and Access (CVIA) brings together our expertise across every stage of vaccine research, development, and introduction to make lifesaving vaccines widely available to women and children across the world. In 2019, our global partnerships pursued over two dozen vaccine candidates for 18 diseases.
