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How can we help people prevent, detect and manage chronic diseases, especially in resources-limited settings?

Chronic Diseases

Closed

Submissions are closed

Timeline

  • Solution Deadline

    February 13, 2017 10:36pm EST
  • Applications Open

    January 1, 2019 12:00am EST
  • Solve @ UN

    March 7, 2017 11:59pm EST
  • Solve @ MIT

    May 8, 2017 11:59pm EDT

Challenge Overview

We are facing a chronic disease crisis. Worldwide, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, cancer, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are responsible for 27 million deaths annually, over 75 percent of which occur in low- and middle-income countries. In addition to ending millions of lives, chronic diseases have major economic costs: estimates suggest they will result in tens of trillions of dollars in lost global economic output between 2011 and 2030, and in the U.S. alone, these diseases account for over $600 billion in medical costs each year.

Key Issues

Reversing some of these trends will require improved approaches to both disease prevention and management. In developing countries, the aforementioned chronic diseases are particularly underfunded, despite their high incidence and cost.

Promising opportunities exist to help the millions of patients who are most at risk because of genetic predisposition or risky behavior. Examples include finding ways to adapt successful diabetes prevention strategies to fit different dietary and cultural contexts; innovating new technologies to detect and monitor heart disease risk in rural communities; and increasing access to low-cost, easily deployable tools for stroke awareness among illiterate populations. Solutions might include employing behavioral economics and so-called “nudges” at points-of-purchase to help consumers improve their health through better purchasing behavior; embedding obesity screening and treatment in routine community health care models; and applying innovative technologies to help patients manage health risk behaviors such as tobacco use, lack of exercise, poor nutrition, and drinking too much alcohol. Globally, these examples illustrate just some of the many opportunities to help both caregivers and patients more effectively and efficiently prevent, detect, and manage chronic diseases.

The Solve community aims to help fill some of the acute gaps in thinking, implementation, and discovery which exist in the effort to solve the world’s most pressing challenges. To jumpstart thinking, application, and innovation to mitigate chronic disease cost, morbidity, and mortality, the Solve community can:

  • Suggest chronic disease prevention models that can both reduce cost and improve health outcomes, particularly in low-income and developing country settings.

  • Propose innovative strategies for chronic disease screening, especially to increase early detection.  

  • Develop low-cost, rapidly scalable tools and technologies to help patients and caregivers more efficiently and effectively manage chronic disease burdens.

Judging Criteria

  • Alignment: The solution addresses the challenge that has been set forth using technology.
  • Scalability: The solution can be grown and scaled to affect the lives of more people.
  • Potential for Impact: The solution can be grown and scaled to affect the lives of more people.
  • Novelty: This is a new technology, a new application of a technology, or a new process for solving the challenge.
  • Feasibility: It is feasible to implement the solution, and the team has a plan for the solution to sustain itself financially.

Solutions

Selected

The Lucky Iron Fish

By Gavin Armstrong
Gavin  Armstrong
Selected

NutriCount

By Malena Gonzalez
Malena Gonzalez
Selected

Nightingale Health

By Antti Kangas
Antti Kangas
Selected

Doxper

By Shailesh Prithani
Shailesh Prithani
Selected

Breath Research

By Nirinjan Yee
Nirinjan Yee
Selected

A digital self-coaching program for obesity and diabetes

By Reza Yavari
Reza  Yavari
Selected

Reduce / reverse pre-diabetes in 100m people

By Diego Espinosa
Diego Espinosa
Selected

Smart Clinics

By Abhinav Khare
Abhinav Khare

Leadership

Jeffrey Sturchio

Jeffrey Sturchio

Rabin Martin, President & CEO
Corinna Lathan

Corinna Lathan

AnthroTronix, Inc., CEO, Co-Founder, and Board Chair
Nalini Saligram

Nalini Saligram

Arogya World, Founder & CEO
Gillian Christie

Gillian Christie

The Vitality Group, Health Innovation Manager
Amy Siegel

Amy Siegel

S2N Health, Co-Founder
Jonathan Gruber

Jonathan Gruber

MIT, Ford Professor of Economics
Arvind  Rajan

Arvind Rajan

Cricket Health, Co-Founder and CEO
Aya Caldwell

Aya Caldwell

Novartis Foundation, Head, Innovation and Partnerships
Linda Bauld

Linda Bauld

University of Stirling, Professor, School of Management