#medicines360

[bedsider]

IUDs in general have been shown to be a very effective contraceptive, but have been too expensive for most women. My motivation is to provide access to effective birth control options regardless of a person's income. Actavis shares our vision of a world in which a woman's access to birth control is not compromised by lack of education, product availability or price. Having control over if and when she becomes pregnant empowers a woman to make choices that positively impact her life and the lives of others.

Victoria Hale, PhD, Medicines360 Founder & CEO

Remember that lower-cost hormonal IUD we wrote about in our "IUDs on the Horizon" feature a while back? Well, it's one step closer to being a reality now that the maker, Medicines360, has found a partner in Actavis, a global pharmaceutical company. Read all about it in the press release announcing the partnership.

[holstee]

Unite for Sight Conference Recap with Kim

Today we have a guest post by good friend, avid cyclist, activist, design(ist?), and technologist Kim Burgas. Kim recently returned from a bike ride from New York to Connecticut for the Unite for Sight conference and here is quick recap of her adventure and the conference:

  Last weekend I biked from New York City to Yale University, a short 90-mile jaunt, for the Unite for Sight conference.  When asked by my couchsurfer host in Stamford, CT how I managed to bike such a long distance, I responded, “Training,” then paused and added, “And you just keep pedaling, because that is all you can do, really.” 

It was this attitude of perseverance that marked the spirit of the Unite for Sight, an annual conference on global health and social entrepreneurship.  Doctors, aid workers, social entrepreneurs and designers flooded the campus enthusiastic to share their knowledge, experiences and passions.  Attendee Elizabeth Ricketts, a friend and designer at Of Rags, alongside presenters Jocelyn Wyatt, Executive Director of IDEO.org and Noel Wilson of Catapult Design brought with them a vibrant, cross-disciplinary creativity to the conference.  Health professionals, such as Victoria Hale, Founder & CEO of Medicines360, and Jennifer Staple-Clark, Founder and CEO of Unite for Sight, presented real-world statistics about the poor state of global health systems, further driving home the dire need for creativity and innovation in the health sector.

And innovate we will!  From the Wisepill, monitoring adherence of HIV/AIDs medication, to using mobile technology to register patients in Tanzania; from profit sharing models to B-corps for public benefit; from insect cereal to prevent malnutrition to reuseable sanitary pads production by and for Kenyan women to help women return to school, the conference was ripe with ideas and working prototypes as well as the chance to connect with the people behind it all who are devoting their lives to the betterment of society.      

So after a weekend of exerting both my body and mind, I have arrived at the following conclusion: As social entrepreneurs, we do what we do because, well, that is all we can do.  It is not a career path, it is a burning need and passion that propels us forward.  Keep pedaling!