Easier Than Taking Vitamins

The Taimaka Outpatient Clinic operates a community-based malnutrition treatment model that brings severe acute malnutrition care closer to families. Since 2019, Taimaka has treated over 12,000 children and currently cares for more than 10,000 children annually.

mDoc's Garden in a Box initiative distributes biodegradable seed kits to pregnant women identified through nutritional screening as having critical dietary gaps. The women are enrolled through a structured coaching and referral system in primary healthcare facilities and community outreach points, and receive ongoing support via a digital health platform. More than 300 women have been referred to the initiative and 96% collected a seed box.

Ekiti State, Nigeria, implemented a coordinated three-pronged approach that reduced neonatal, infant, and under-five mortality rates by more than 50% over five years, saving approximately 45,000 children's lives. The response combined strengthening the medical supply chain, increasing demand for care by engaging with community leaders and holding weekly meetings with health system stakeholders.

The Grassroots Smile Initiative provides complimentary cleft lip surgeries and associated care, including nutritional support, speech therapy and other treatments. Since 2005, the group has performed over 3,000 free surgeries, averaging about 150 to 200 patients each year.

The Beyond Zero Clinic addresses child mortality rates by training and equipping community health promoters (CHPs) with smartphones connected to the Community Health Information System to curb preventable deaths by ensuring children get vaccinated and monitoring disease spread in real-time to ensure children receive timely medical care. During Kenya's 2023 cholera outbreak, CHPs using the digital platform reached 99.2% of the population for vaccination, containing what could have been a widespread epidemic.

The Health and Social Development Foundation (HESED) aims to increase access to healthcare, specifically among pregnant women and children. HESED works to bring doctors closer to communities that struggle to get care and has also created designated spaces for important care that was previously inaccessible, like OBGYN checkups. Over the last three years, more than 400 people have received checkups from the center, regardless of their insurance status.

The Children Living With Cancer Foundation organizes dance parties for children with cancer, to provide them with a sense of joy, encouragement, and community during times of need. The nonprofit also organizes community events and donations and works with local pharmacies to get patients the medicines they need at subsidized rates. So far, the Foundation has supported 300 childhood cancer patients and their families.

Outbreak Response teams travel from house to house in Kano, Nigeria, making sure children are vaccinated against wild poliovirus to prevent its spread.

Miraclefeet is a U.S. based nonprofit that provides free clubfoot treatment in 29 countries, including 15 in Africa. Following Ponseti, a nonsurgical treatment plan, caregivers gently manipulate a child’s feet by stretching them into the correct position and using plaster of Paris to cast the foot in that position. After 5-8 weeks, children wear braces for 23 hours every day for the first three months, then only while sleeping for 3-5 years, in order to maintain the correction. The brace is made up of a special shoe that is clipped to a bar. The treatment is less expensive and 98% effective when done early.

Doctors Without Borders treats malnutrition in areas of Nigeria facing food shortages due to violence and insurgency. When safe, it runs a mobile clinic to provide basic health care, including nutritional support, particularly to children. When communities are not safe enough to enter, the organization trains community members in basic patient care and provides them the tools to run basic tests and treat malnutrition. Community health workers are also trained to treat patients, dispense medications, and educate caregivers about child nutrition.