Sathya Jeganathan

Innovative Local Technology Warms the Prospects for India's Vulnerable Infants Neo-natal mortality is a devastating problem in the developing world. Of the roughly 26 million children born in India each year, 1.2 million die during the first four weeks. Dr. Sathya Jeganathan, a pediatrician in Chengalpattu Government Medical College, was determined to cut the mortality rate at her rural hospital, where 39 out of every 1,000 children born do not survive.

Dr. Jeganathan's first impulse was to import technology from the developing world—but the set-up costs, staffing needs, and maintenance burden of western infant incubators (raised plexiglass beds that use radiant coils to regulate infants' body temperature) made the equipment unfit for the population she served.

So she spearheaded the invention of a regionally appropriate solution. Bringing together neonatal nurses and local electricians, Dr. Jeganathan created a low-cost baby warmer made of readily available 100-watt light bulbs and locally harvested wood. Costing only $100 to build (a fraction of the cost of commercial alternatives) and easy to maintain, the warmers soon cut the hospital's infant mortality by nearly half.

Dr. Jeganathan checks the status of a baby warmer at the Chengalpattu Hospital.

Technical and business development help from L-RAMP India is allowing Dr. Jeganathan to further develop the product design and create a business model. This key support means she'll soon be able to distribute the infant warmer to other rural hospitals in the region.