Rice University’s NEST 360° health initiative has secured $68 million in funding for neonatal technologies including bubble CPAP devices to reduce newborn deaths in sub-Saharan Africa by 50%.
The funding is dedicated to the first of two four-year phases and will be dedicated to Malawi, Tanzania, Kenya and Nigeria. Phase 2 will expand the technologies to Ethiopia, Uganda, Ghana and the Ivory Coast, according to Texas Medical Center.
The initiative has been working since 2013 on providing low-cost bubble CPAP machines to healthcare providers in Malawi, where the preterm birth rate is a global high 18%.
