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As the world’s largest producer of insecticide-treated bed nets, Vestergaard Frandsen is a health-products company based in Switzerland. Family-owned, the company is led by CEO Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen, who adopted a humanitarian-entrepreneurship business model when restructuring the company in the early 1990s. Vestergaard Frandsen produces a number of products that improve the health and wellness of people in developing nations, especially those affected by diseases like cholera and malaria. The company takes a research-driven approach to product development that involves collaborations among a team comprised of experts such as entomologists and engineers. One of Vestergaard Frandsen’s most popular products, the PermaNet, has been used by over 1.6 billion people. Developed in 1999, these bed nets are durable and treated with insecticides. They have contributed to reducing malaria-related deaths by a third in the last 10 years. Another popular product, ZeroFly, protects livestock and crops with screens and bags that contain insecticides. ZeroFly promotes healthier food production and environmental sustainability. The company has received global recognition from notable publications and organizations, including being named in Fast Company’s “Top 50,”, the Economist’s “Social and Economic Innovation” award, and the Saatchi and Saatchi award for “World-Changing Ideas.”

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Vestergaard (established as Vestergaard Frandsen) is a Swiss-headquartered company that offers technologies and knowhow that significantly improve public health. A focus of Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen and the Vestergaard team is on enabling clean water access for people in vulnerable developing countries, who number some 780 million worldwide.

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Vestergaard Frandsen’s LifeStraw Brings Clean Water to Kenyan Children

Based in Washington, DC, Vestergaard Frandsen works to improve overall health in vulnerable populations around the world.

Vestergaard (established as Vestergaard Frandsen) is a Swiss company focused on health solutions that help the world’s most vulnerable people achieve comfort and security in their lives. One major Vestergaard Frandsen initiative has been an effort to ensure that one million children in Kenya have access to clean water.

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Maui Hiker’s Ordeal Highlights Importance of Wilderness Planning

Based in Switzerland, Vestergaard (established as Vestergaard Frandsen) has developed a host of products that improve the lives of the most vulnerable in the developing world. Among the innovations that Mikkel Vestergaard Frandsen has spearheaded are ZeroFly, Permanet, and LifeStraw, which are also valuable to those who traverse rugged regions off the grid. A recent Outdoor Life article focused on two very different stories of hikers who became lost in Maui’s wilderness areas at around the same time. With both in their mid-30s and in excellent physical condition, the survival of one and death of another pointed to simple decisions that can make a huge impact in extreme situations. Taking a hike in the Makawao Forest Reserve, Amanda Eller lost her bearings and couldn’t find her car again. The result was 17 days spent in mountainous jungle terrain, overcoming dehydration, severe sunburn, a broken leg, and serious skin infections. What helped her survive was the ability to source edible plants, water, and rudimentary shelter during the ordeal. On the other hand, Noah “Kekai” Mina was ultimately found dead around the summit of Mauna Kahalawaia, near where he had gone missing. Outdoor Life has some simple tips that can help ensure a similar positive result to Ms. Eller’s. These include sharing plans with friends and family and not going out alone in potentially dangerous areas. In addition to carrying a phone, compass, and signal mirror, it makes sense to bring an inexpensive and lightweight LifeStraw water filter. The Vestergaard product is compact enough to fit in a pocket and generates gallons of safe drinking water from potentially contaminated surface sources. This can easily be the difference between life and death.