2201-60165

Improving Access to Abortion and Contraception & Creating a Sustainable SRH Ecosystem for Young Women and Girls

Ipas Development Foundation           India

Ipas Development Foundation aims to advance government policies on safe abortion and SRH services for young women through decentralization, task shifting, and creating a referral system between community health clinics to higher level health facilities. IDF previously received Transition to Scale funding, and with additional funding, IDF aims to expand its geographic coverage in four states of Assam, Madhya Pradesh, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh, and to operationalize the new safe abortion law (Medical Termination of Pregnancy (Amendment) Act 2021) strengthening 720 health facilities and servicing 259,000 people through improved safe abortion and SRH services. IDF’s model includes: a youth-based SRH outreach program, an AI-powered chatbot offering SRH information and services, comprehensive abortion and contraceptive care, and technical assistance to national and state level governments and strengthen SRH services.

2303-64804

Safe Nest-Scaling a Digital Self-Managed Abortion Solution to Marginalized Kenyan Youth

  Women Promotion Ventures EA LTD           Kenya

Women Promotion Ventures EA LTD (WPV)’s innovation, Safe Nest, accompanies marginalized transgender and disabled youth through their self-managed abortion journey, providing them with reliable, private resources. The three components of the platform are: 1) an AI-enabled Safe Nest Chatbot through Facebook Messenger allowing users to access information on safe abortion, post-abortion care, and contraception; 2) a team of trained community connectors (intermediaries) to create awareness, ensure proper usage of the innovation and availability of medical abortion drugs; 3) and a team of trans- and disability-friendly healthcare providers to provide non-judgemental and confidential care both in-person and remotely. WPV will scale up the innovation to the 27 new counties in Kenya and expand the user base by including women living with disabilities as an additional target user group, while also maintaining the innovation in the sites involved at proof of concept.

2211-56516

WITHIN EVERYONE’S REACH

  Fundación Oriéntame            Colombia

Fundación Oriéntame is the first provider in Colombia to offer medical abortion to women and girls through telemedicine and tele-expertise. The innovation focuses on de-centralizing safe abortion care through task-shifting from doctors to nurses by leveraging technology to increase access to care. Telemedicine utilizes virtual consultations with a physician to prescribe a medical abortion with the discrete delivery of medications, contraceptive referrals, and information pamphlets through the mail. These online consultations are available for smartphone and computer users located anywhere in the country with connectivity but primarily target urban centres, such as Bogota, that have robust connectivity to carry out the service. Meanwhile, the tele-expertise model offers in-person consultations with a locally registered nurse who virtually connects the patient with a physician at a primary care mini-clinic in a peri-urban or rural region to prescribe medical abortions.

2212-60099

Aya Contigo 2.0 – Adaptation and scaling of a digital self-care abortion and contraception tool to young Venezuelans

  VITALA GLOBAL FOUNDATION           Venezuela

“Vitala Global Foundation’s innovation, Aya Contigo, is a digital platform co-created with women and girls in Venezuela to enable self-managed abortions and family planning care. The platform consists of three primary elements: Information and self-assessment tools for decision-making, accompaniment, emotional support, and trusted local referrals through automatic text messages or a virtual live chat, and a directory of trusted sexual and reproductive health partners to help users meet their needs. Previously funded at proof of concept to develop Aya Contigo, in this phase, Vitala aims to conduct user-centred research to adapt and scale Aya Contigo to youth in Venezuela to ensure the feasibility and acceptability of the platform among the population, refine the platform based on ongoing user feedback, strengthen partnerships with local organizations to expand reach and impact, and increase the innovation’s financial sustainability”

2301-64044

Breaking The Cycle

  Fight AIDS Malawi          Malawi

Fight AIDS Malawi (FAM)’s innovation establishes a safe abortion ecosystem that builds the capacity of local health facilities and creates a referral system between rural villages and public and/or private clinics. The approach addresses structural barriers and expands access to safe abortion through an online forum for youth-friendly information, village and school forums as peer-educator led safe spaces, outreach clinics and participating pharmacies offering safe products and services, and supporting community engagement initiatives led by village forum leaders and Community-Based Organizations (CBOs). The OPTions portfolio previously funded the piloting of this innovation in Lilongwe district through a proof of concept grant. In this phase, FAM aims to refine and scale up the innovation to an additional 120 villages, 30 schools and 20 health facilities in Lilongwe and Dowa districts in central Malawi, while maintaining the innovation in the sites involved at proof of concept.

2404-65261

Frontline Actors Initiative Plus (FAI Plus)

Contact Trust Youth Association            Zambia

Contact Trust Youth Association (CTYA) aims to address Zambia’s high adolescent maternal mortality rates from abortions through their FAI Plus innovation, which integrates safe abortion education and pathways to care into existing systems using a community asset-based approach. Intermediaries are utilized to target adolescent women (14 to 24 years) with safe abortion sensitization, education, counselling, and referrals to support the pathway to care. Initially supported by the OPTions Initiative with a proof-of-concept grant, CTYA developed and successfully piloted an in-school model employing teachers as intermediaries and enhancing the capacity of healthcare workers in Livingstone to provide adolescent and youth-friendly sexual reproductive health (SRH) services. During this phase, CTYA aims to expand their in-school model further and pilot its extension to an out-of-school model. They will test the integration of youth Community-Based Distributors (CBDs) for safe abortion provision, pilot play-based engagement methods through the engagement of 20 youth coaches and include parental sensitization in the model. The team will work to strengthen their M&E framework to demonstrate outcome-based impact more comprehensively and enhance team capacity to identify new revenue streams and develop strategic partnerships.

2312-61503

Foley Baloon For Cervical Preparation Before Dilatation and Evacuation

  Mozambique Institute for Health Education and Research           Mozambique

Mozambique Institute for Health Education and Research (MIHER) will conduct a randomized controlled trial (RCT) in Mozambique to demonstrate that introducing a lower cost procedure for cervical preparation (Foley Balloon and Misoprostol) when performing D&E for 2nd trimester abortion is non-inferior to the standard procedure for D&E. MIHER will also demonstrate that the pocket-sized ButterflyiQ+ digital ultrasound can be used in place of conventional ultrasound to provide intraoperative guidance during D&E. In the first phase, MIHER will train 3 Mozambican gynecologists to become national experts and trainers in D&E procedures, and 5 resident physicians will be trained to support the procedures. In the second phase, MIHER will conduct the RCT to prove that the novel method of cervical preparation for D&E is safe, effective, and acceptable to providers and patients.

2311-61209

The Better Method: A Novel, Non-Hormonal, Dual Action Contraceptive and Conception Interrupter

  Elle, MD Biotechnologies Inc.                            Ethiopia

Elle, MD will develop a new copper-embedded contraceptive and conception interrupting silicone vaginal ring that is non-hormonal, and convenient as it will be self-administered and reusable. Elle, MD will conduct several pre-clinical studies to determine the optimal dose of copper for the device including preclinical studies including a copper release study and sperm motility testing, animal studies to determine copper level needs, testing contraception and conception interruption efficacy, and other biocompatibility and external testing to satisfy Health Canada and FDA requirements. Elle, MD will then conduct the first clinical trial for safety, tolerability, and preliminary efficacy, involving up to 30 participants who have the potential to become pregnant. If this innovation is successful, showing promise for superior efficacy to the morning-after pill and superior safety to the copper IUD, the device would undergo further clinical trials and could have a significant impact on a global scale.

2206-54328

Increasing Access to Safe Abortion for Underserved Women through Innovative Financing Model and Next Generation Mobilization

  DKT INTERNATIONAL, INC           Ethiopia

DKT International (DKT)’s funded innovation is a partnership initiative between DKT’s Ethiopian branch and private health clinics, and a grassroots demand generation model, to help underprivileged women access safe abortion services and improve private clinic services. DKT will select at least 30 private-sector partner clinics to participate in the initiative, prioritizing localities in Addis Abba and a minimum of 1-2 major towns with the highest rates of unsafe abortion among underserved women. Clinic staff will be trained on MA and MVA. DKT will sell MA, MVA and contraception products to the clinics at cost and for every 10 clients seeking safe abortion; clinics commit to providing one free service and a month contraceptive product of choice for an underserved client, with the service and product cost for the underserved client reimbursed by DKT. DKT will establish a new easily remembered national toll-free helpline number to operationalize this innovation.They will partner with Triggerise Ethiopia, as 25 Triggerise “Tiko Pros” community mobilizers will direct underprivileged women to the hotline.

 

 

2202-60190

Quality-assured mifepristone as emergency contraception: A next generation option for an existing abortion pill

  Concept Foundation    Argentina, Ethiopia, Ghana, Netherlands, Sweden, Tanzania, Thailand, and Switzerland

Concept Foundation seeks to expand the regulatory pathway of mifepristone an as emergency contraceptive in low- and middle-income countries, exploring pathways to bring mifepristone as a quality-assured, low-cost, over the counter emergency contraceptive to market. Concept Foundation will prepare a data package to demonstrate mifepristone can be registered using existing evidence, supported by an advisory committee. Once the data package is finalized, Concept Foundation will meet with regulatory authorities and agencies to establish pathways to register mifepristone as a quality-assured emergency contraceptive product.