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At PATH, we believe that all children deserve the chance for a healthy life. For us, that’s
what every invention, every device, every new idea is all about. PATH translates innovation
into impact in the lives of families and communities in more than 70 countries.
In India alone, you can see the wide reach of our work, from simple ways to save women
and babies, to the complex world of scientific partnership. With more than a billion people,
a booming economy, and a skilled labor force, India is a nation on the move. PATH is collaborating
with Indian biotech institutes and companies to create new vaccines to fight malaria, rotavirus,
and pneumonia. Progress in these vaccine programs could mean a giant step for humanity.
Just allowing the children in these rural communities having a healthy childhood I think
could really unleash their potential in terms of the contributions they can make to society.
And here we’re talking about literally millions and millions of kids.
Elsewhere in India, PATH’s partnered with the Serum Institute to produce a desperately
needed vaccine for epidemic meningitis in Africa, a disease that threatens 450-million
people every year. And there’s more. PATH is working to reduce malnutrition. Despite
India’s economic growth, a quarter of its population still lives on less than a dollar
a day and struggles for food. In Hyderabad, India, 11-year-old Rajinder
often arrives at school without breakfast. He and other students show signs of anemia.
A government program provides a daily meal of rice, with bits of vegetables and, sometimes,
an egg. PATH is moving forward to introduce Ultra Rice, an innovation that mimics the
look and taste of rice, but adds vital nutrients to the staple food of half the world’s population.
With better nutrition, children like Rajender are healthier and more able to learn. Building
blocks for the brighter future every child deserves.
Scientific ingenuity in the laboratory is easy to observe, but if you look here you
can see another kind of innovation, just as vital. Inside communities PATH is touching
even the tiniest homes and making an impact. In Nanded, India 20-year-old Pranita Ingole
is eight months pregnant with her first child. She’s a shy young woman who lives with her
husband and six of his relatives in a two-room shanty and knows all too well that pregnancy
and child birth in her world can be life threatening. Every day in India, 2,700 newborn babies die,
an infant death rate nearly ten-times that of the US. Millions of people are packed into
vast slums with little or no sanitation and clean water, trying to scrape out a living.
Even pregnant women work construction or day labor to survive.
It’s not just going and fetching water from the tap, or it’s not just cooking and managing
the home and the family, but also going and doing a nine-to-five job, so she works literally
until the last day of her pregnancy. Beyond the toll of work, women are commonly
undernourished. Most of them eat after everybody’s eaten
in the family. So whatever are the remnants they would eat whatever.
To make matters worse, many women give birth at home without trained help, rather than
at the hospital risking serious complications and death. Twenty percent of all deaths in
child-birth and pregnancy worldwide occur in India. It’s no wonder Pranita worries
for her life and her baby. But PATH is making a difference. Our Sure
Start program is working with local groups in urban and rural slums for safer pregnancies
and healthier babies. PATH mobilizes neighborhood health workers
to reach out to pregnant women like Pranita and over time build trust and inform them
about nutrition, hygiene, and medical care. Together they learn the importance of practices
such as taking iron and folic acid supplements, giving birth at the hospital, early breastfeeding,
and keeping a newborn warm. Because of these people coming here, the pregnant
ladies are getting a lot of information. Early in her pregnancy, Pranita was approached
by Roda Doyabali, a health worker trained by PATH who helped her get immunizations to
protect her baby and explained how to improve her chances for a healthy delivery.
I’ve made it a point to go for regular checkups. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been so regular.
The results? Real impact in the life of a young family. On January 11th, Pranita delivered
baby Pintu, full term, a healthy seven pounds, born safely at the hospital. Mother and son
are thriving. I think the whole focus that the babies have
to survive and they have to be healthy is something that will give India a very stronger
generation, a stronger youth. If the foundation is strong, I think a lot can happen in our
country. This remarkable, life changing work is unfolding
all over the world. This is why we ask you to join us at PATH, because together we can
be a powerful force for change. Through innovation PATH delivers lasting impact, because every
baby, no matter where they’re born, deserves to learn, and grow, and live in good health.
Together, we can create a world of hope.