Meet the 22-Year-Old Breaking the Blood Bank Crisis in Cameroon

The first of it's kind, a medical drone base has opened in Rwanda that aims to cut down the time it takes to deliver blood from blood banks to hospitals. Serving 21 rural health facilities throughout the region, the approach is also helping put Rwanda on the map as a technology hub.

Alaska has achieved one of the highest vaccination rates in the country due to prioritizing access to the vaccine for rural and Indigenous residents. Using a myriad of transportation efforts – including a fleet of chartered planes, a water taxi drove, and sleds pulled behind snow machines – clinicians have been able to deliver thousands of doses to these remote communities.

Comprised of doctors, nurses, and medical students, the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium is helping to bring free coronavirus testing to Black Philadelphians who are "contracting the coronavirus and dying from COVID-19 at greater rates than everyone else." The program, which offers testing via mobile test units to around 350 per day, has gained the recognition throughout the city, resulting in funding from city leaders, foundations, and individuals.

An app developed by a two telecommunications design engineers in Senegal is helping to connect hospitals with blood donors. The app alerts donors in nearby areas when blood is needed and sends "messages of thanks and donation reminders," which has helped to decrease the regional stigma about donating blood. Although the technology has not achieved widespread adoption, where it has been used, blood donations have significantly increased.

In parts of Uganda, ride-sharing has been transformed into a medical delivery service to ensure that those who are unable to travel to their doctor for antiretroviral refills have access to the medications they need to stay healthy. Although the program is limited in terms of the areas it can serve due to cost, doctors in the region hope to continue and expand the program after seeing such success since implementation.

In Nashua, New Hampshire, public health officials have set up a Covid-19 testing site in the parking lot of a church to better serve minority communities. The testing site caters to both drive-up and walk-up appointments, and those who setup the site, are also taking part in a community outreach program that aims to better disperse information to local residents.

To help pregnant women during the COVID-10 pandemic, the government in Uganda sold travel and private hospital care vouchers to those in their third trimester to ensure the women had access to the care they would need. The program connected the women with health resources in their own areas and also guaranteed that they get routine services such as antenatal and postnatul checkups.

To increase COVID-19 testing in one Dallas neighborhood, community leaders, healthcare professionals, and a local church have joined together to implement a testing site directly in the community. Offering 250 free tests per day, the makeshift clinic helps to address the need of community members who may not feel comfortable going to a medical institution that they do not trust.

In Philadelphia, a group of Black doctors formed a medical team to address the Covid-19 testing disparity between different parts of the community. Known as the Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium, the group offers appointments and makes house calls to test community members for the virus. Although they currently have many volunteers helping, the group is limited by the amount of testing supplies they have on hand.

Throughout the Untied States there are many rural areas that do not have quick access to hospitals or other means of healthcare, so some providers are turning to repurposing abandoned buildings into clinics. Focusing on populations that often are overlooked in the health care industry, such as the elderly, homeless or uninsured, these clinics aim to increase health equity amongst all underserved populations.