Health Innovations only changes lives when they reach people. As we mark our 20th anniversary, our new report reflects on two decades of turning health innovations into impact – and the opportunities that lie ahead.
Stelia waited years to get screened for cervical cancer. In her remote village in Malawi, the nearest hospital offering the service was hours away – too far and too expensive to reach. Until one day a community health worker arrived with self-sampling kits, linking Stelia and the other women in her community to screening. Today, Stelia tells others that getting screened was “the best thing I ever did for myself.”
Bashir in Nigeria used to dread the rainy season, knowing malaria would likely strike his children. Today, his youngest daughter is growing up protected by a new generation of malaria tools. “This young girl has never needed even paracetamol,” he says.
In Kenya, Dr. Maina remembers a weekend when almost every woman in the maternity ward suffered life-threatening bleeding. Today, she sees health workers who act quickly and confidently with medicines and tools they can trust.
And in hospitals from India to Brazil and Kenya, clinicians who once had to improvise to help newborns struggling to breathe are now seeing smaller and smaller babies survive thanks to oxygen technologies designed for the realities of frontline care.
These are just a few of the stories featured in Unitaid’s anniversary report, “From innovation to impact: Building on 20 years of progress,” published today.
Over the past 20 years, remarkable advances in health innovation have transformed what is possible. But innovation alone doesn’t change lives. It must be made available, affordable and accessible to all people who need it.
Through stories from patients, parents, health workers and communities, the report explores what it takes to move innovations beyond the laboratory and into everyday care – and what must happen next to ensure future breakthroughs reach people faster.