Helping New Drugs Out of Research's ‘Valley of Death'

Though it claims as many as 300,000 lives every year, meningitis is not widely regarded as a major health problem by many health organizations in comparison to more familiar diseases like tuberculosis. One family-run company in Oklahoma is working to tackle the disease by developing simpler tools like the Cryptococcal Antigen Lateral Flow Assay, or CrAg LFA, to diagnose fungal infections. Faster and more accurate than previous methods, and significantly less expensive, the test allows for earlier diagnosis and treatment.

Health insurance sign-ups made available to all inmates at the San Francisco county jail, partnered with guidance from a clinic once they are on the outside, allows them to receive better care upon release, and may help prevent a return to crime and substance abuse.

By working with a nonprofit, Las Libres, in Guanajuato, Mexico, volunteers are helping women access medication for abortions for free. Las Libres organizes the supply chain to get the medication to those in need in abortion-ban states in the United States.

The nonprofit Las Libres in Guanajuato, Mexico, helps women access medication for abortions for free. By working with volunteers like the Old Hippies of San Miguel de Allende, the organization delivers the medication to distributors in abortion-ban states in the United States.

Rural hospitals across the country often struggle to stay open in states where Medicaid has not been expanded, but a method known as "swing beds" has helped two critical-access hospitals in Georgia to avoid this fate. This method, which allows hospitals to swing beds from "only patients in need of acute care to those who no longer require the emergency department but still needed more treatment before a nursing home," allowed for the hospitals to pay off debt and expand services.

Switzerland is home to the world's lowest avoidable mortality rate and residents of the country live longer lives and are healthier than those who live in the United States. Health policy experts credit the Swiss health care system for playing a significant role. Despite the high cost and the penalty for not carrying insurance, the system is praised as guarateeing access to quality health-care and "unlike the U.S., people rarely go bankrupt from medical bills."

Public private partnerships are helping hospitals in Nigeria provide more efficient care, especially as it relates to maternal health. In Lagos State, the model – which partners a private healthcare management firm with the hospital – has helped better equip facilities so more laboratory tests can be conducted in one place. Although this solution doesn't necessarily solve all problems faced by those seeking care, it has helped to provide a more sustainable model of healthcare in many cases.

Maryland's health care system is based on three pillars – all-payer rate setting, a global budget, and total cost of care – that, together, have shown positive results both for the patients and for the state's hospitals. Although evidence of success with regard to health care costs is limited, the model of incentiving investment in community health and preventive care has shown success in reducing readmission rates for hospitals across the state.

Health care in the Netherlands relies heavily on the collaboration, cooperation, and shared responsibility between private markets and government regulations to achieve affordable, consistent, and quality care for patients. Although the system is not without its limitations, this process has helped the country avoid preventable deaths while also guaranting nearly all residents insurance.

The Rwandan government is on a mission to get palliative care to everyone who needs it by creating their own morphine instead of being beholden to pharmaceutical companies driven by profit. Using Uganda's simple recipe for morphine, the government partnered with nonprofits to produce and distribute morphine for free and under close watch. The drug costs pennies to make and is hand-delivered by community workers to those who need it, no matter how far. Although fear and uncertainty remain over the possibility of opioid addiction, many patients are greatly relieved to now live pain-free.