“ “Our collective disruption through a co-created ecosystem is recognized by stakeholders on the ground and within the government, validating our ambitions. Together, we’re empowering communities to enhance their living conditions, ultimately
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Building on this trusted partnership and their technology to reach smallholder farmers and agrovets across Ghana, Cowtribe in the first half of 2023 conducted 292 drone flights together with Zipline to distribute 1.4 million poultry vaccine doses to nearly 5,000 rural smallholders. The flights reduced vaccine costs considerably, proving the effectiveness of a new distribution system with the potential to close the crucial last-mile delivery gap. COLLABORATION AND INNOVATION ENABLE A SUSTAINABLE IMPACT In July 2023, the next milestone was an anti-rabies vaccine campaign in Kenya, based on the learnings captured from the proof of concept implemented in Ghana through the collaboration between Cowtribe and Zipline. The project is in partnership with two local non-governmental organisations and their communities in Bungoma County, which Boehringer Ingelheim has supported since 2019. One of the NGOs, Core Health and Wealth International, is partnering with MMH to help transform healthcare delivery to underserved rural communities across western Kenya. CHW receives additional support from the More Green team to improve local environmental sustainability. For example, in Kenya’s Bungoma County, solar-powered water towers were constructed to create better access to safe, clean drinking water for the 1.3 million residents for whom the nearest water source, on average, is 1.5 kilometres away. CHW played a crucial role in the anti-rabies vaccination campaign through its extensive connections to hospitals and health facilities across the country. Moreover, the NGO provided necessary medical infrastructure to ensure efficient distribution of the vaccine doses. These efforts were complemented by a second local NGO, GAASPP (Golden Age and Albinism Support and Protection Program), a regional community organisation in western Kenya. GAASPP is dedicated to providing a platform
aiming for a lasting transformation” Kiran Dsouza, Boehringer Ingelheim (IMETA), head of IT
and partnership for the vulnerable elderly, as well as marginalised individuals with albinism. With a focus on empowering solutions, GAASPP assists the most vulnerable by cultivating champions from marginalised communities to represent and support them. Making use of a dedicated agrovet on site, GAASPP significantly mobilised surrounding communities to bring their dogs for vaccination to their community centre in Webuye and streamlined the administration of drone-delivered vaccines. GAASPP and the on-site agrovet will continue to provide animal health products for the local communities. And thanks to solar panels financed by the More Green fund, which supports environmental sustainability projects in line with our corporate 2030 commitments, the storage and refrigeration of these vaccines will have a minimal environmental footprint. Another partner ensuring the success of the vaccination program in Kenya is Drop Access, a social start-up that developed VacciBox, a portable solar-powered refrigerator that makes possible the delivery of vaccines to remote areas. This became another successful component in the campaign. Too often, the problem is not a lack of vaccines, but vaccines that are spoiled by lack of refrigeration. Supported by Boehringer Ingelheim since early 2023, this campaign became another proof point for VacciBox, which is capable of storing up to 3,000 vaccine doses and running for 36 hours on battery. In a single day, an impressive tally of almost 2,000 dogs were vaccinated at eight different sites across Kakamega and Bungoma Counties. Over the next six months, the next step will involve distributing an additional 10,000 doses throughout Kenya’s Lake Region. We firmly believe that creating more sustainable, equitable solutions to interconnected human and animal healthcare challenges in underserved communities requires a holistic approach – innovation, collaboration and enabling an ecosystem of impact. ▪ 1 nepad.org/blog/digitalising-poultry-industry-africa#:~:text=Africa%27s%20poultry%20business%20is%20 booming,other%20regions%20of%20the%20world. 2 who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/rabies#:~:text=Rabies%20is%20present%20on%20all%20continents%2C%20 except%20Antarctica%2C,80%25%20of%20human%20cases%20occur%20in%20rural%20areas.Executive- Summary_Fnl_10.7.2022.pdf
MARIA LUCIA TERENO Maria is a business executive with substantial pharmaceutical experience, including various roles within strategy and marketing, the implementation of the global diversity and inclusion programme and most currently, the sustainable development strategy. Born in Brazil, educated in Canada and fluent in five languages, Maria now lives in Germany with her family.
Twitter @Boehringer boehringer-ingelheim.com
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Health: A Political Choice – From Fragmentation to Integration
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