Crazy how some randos from the otherside of the world convinced an Australian doctor and a German consultant who don't know each other to ditch their jobs and instead prevent Syphilis transmission to newborns, reduce stillbirths, and lower newborn death in a foreign country.
Then in just 3 years they did the following: - Get enough Rapid Syphilis/HIV dual tests to cover over 1/3 of all pregnant women in the 13th most populous country - Make such tests 2-3x cheaper - Expand to Angola
I'm grateful for Keyur & Nils for making a risky jump in their career then working like hell to improve the lives of my people now and the million others to come. I'm grateful for the brilliant people at CE for finding cause areas like these by also researching like hell and putting together an effective team to tackle it. You all made this possible now. Insane stuff.
Mind boggling details below from their newsletter: Philippines Supply
Government approval: Dual HIV/syphilis tests received Health Technology Assessment (HTA) approval for government procurement - a critical regulatory milestone
Budget for 2026: The Department of Health (DOH) will procure 800,000 dual tests in 2026 (compared to zero in previous years),covering approximately 35% of pregnant women.
Better prices: A new procurement law is expected to make tests 2-3x cheaper, by allowing the government to procure internationally.
Empower
Updated guidelines: Our recommendations were incorporated into the updated Omnibus Health Guidelines, which will be published in the new edition.
Shaping national strategy: We were invited to the Joint Program Review and consulted on EMTCT (Elimination of Mother-to-Child Transmission) guidelines, forming the foundation of the next 5-year HIV/STI strategy.
Train
Setting up for scale: the Department of Health requested our training materials. We are in discussions about official certification and supporting DOH in building a Training of Trainers curriculum and cascade.
Angola
Country expansion launched: Identified Angola as our second country following country visits to South Africa and Angola.
Team expanded: Grew our local team by two to support Angola operations.
Pilot partnership established: Ministry of Health has requested a pilot program, which we are preparing with implementation partner PSI.
oh what a great way to put it and thanks for posting this. I share about better giving for fun so I haven't sit myself down to really thinking about it deeply though I've been thinking about this in passing for a long time now.
I experience these problems often when i'm sharing about EA. My angle was off even to me but I couldn't point a finger to it. These feel like you hit the nail on the head.
- "It gets at what the target audience really wants to feel — confidence in impact — without making them do something many aren’t ready for: comparing different ways of doing good."
Yeah, i admit i made many people's eye glaze over with just a sentence or so in about the "fun" nuaces of this.
- "It avoids the reading “everybody else is doing this wrong and we’re doing it right”.
When I made this mistake, others BS alarms were blaring out and disengaged.
With some charitable ones, I didn't even talk about it as I didn't quite know how to go about it without slighting their previous/current donations.
- "puts the viewer outside of the problem, looking in. It makes them a problem-solver, rather than putting them on the defensive. And if they see themselves reflected, they have the company of millions rather than feeling like they’re in the hot seat."
What a valuable skill this would be for EA comms to do more of. Looking forward to the next GWWC comms piece
Thank you for writing this, Tobias. I can see why you feel confused about this, I think it makes sense to feel so. It sucks your friends made you feel bad about it.
I can't say what the right thing to do was in that situation, but I can say I am with you that it isn't right to be harsh to ourselves and others for not making the most optimized decision all the time.
No one needs help just because they spend their personal time and money on a stray dog, including you. I can see why this might still be hard to accept. Perhaps reframing it like this might help?
Your compassionate colleague, who's incredibly dedicated to improving animal welfare, was on vacation. They're resting from difficult work and making difficult decisions.
They gave themselves rare time to do whatever they wanted to do, to focus on themselves, just enjoying their lives.
And at that time, helping an incredibly friendly and trusting stray dog would make them happy. And so, they did.
I currently live in a place where there are a lot of suffering people and animals. Most of the time, I can't help them. I try to not ignore them, though; I acknowledge them in ways I can. I think they really appreciate that. When I say no to people begging, I still kindly look them in the eye and smile to say sorry. For strays, I give them small treats.
Since I can't avoid it, I cope by reframing it as a daily reminder of why this work means so much. That I'm helping this many beings who are in need, if not more.
It hurts that I'm affected, but I see it as an indication that I still care. I think I would actually be really worried if I am no longer affected.
Yes! I got long COVID for many months and needed to reduce my work hours significantly. It's under-researched, and there was very little I could do about it.
I can't imagine how debilitating ME/CFS are. Averting that, too, would be so wonderful.
As someone who lives in a 3rd world country where dengue is endemic and the healthcare systems' treatments and testing are outdated (understandably, as they are super stretched), this would be such an immense relief for us!
It never really sinks in when I learned about this until I had to experience it first hand when I got a 40C/104F fever 2 weeks ago.
Most hospitals were full. I was finally brought to a private one, but they gave me the wrong dengue test, the wrong medication, the wrong reading of my x-ray and despite being on a stretcher, they couldn't admit me or refer me to the nearest hospital either as they were both over their capacity.
It's not uncommon to take 20-30 hours sitting at the hospital hall before being able to be admitted, if at all.
Then, the costs charged after are way out of reach for most people, even in a public hospital. Most families, even the ones I know who are well off and have doctors in their families, end up in debt for years.
400 million infections per year.
The potential of alleviating so much suffering makes me teary-eyed with happiness. Cross fingers that this goes well!
*mindlessly typed eaforum "wth, why comic sans" "oh, haha funny" *try find more funny in the community tab *sees Nathan's post about the new time article *sad, confused, dizzy huhu *comic sans softened the blow though "ty online team." "drama curfew when?"
Also, I love the gel sleeping mat was mentioned because I also recommend that to people (alongside an affordable memory foam topper). It really helps with sleep, general sharpness, mood and electricity bills!
Thank you for taking the time to write this. I love how this was written too. It's in a way where I don't feel like something is being sold to me and it's just a genuine reflection of why EA is still really wonderful.
I at times honestly forget why this movement/community is uniquely valuable. But when I remember, they're enough to keep me hopeful again. As you mentioned, being truly empowered, taking corrective actions are the norm, collective learning etc. all these aspects of the community/movement are still here. They help reassure me that we will continue to do better. Thank you for sharing and helping remind us all.
Healthy Futures Global
by Keyur & Nils from Charity Entrepreneurship
Crazy how some randos from the otherside of the world convinced an Australian doctor and a German consultant who don't know each other to ditch their jobs and instead prevent Syphilis transmission to newborns, reduce stillbirths, and lower newborn death in a foreign country.
Then in just 3 years they did the following:
- Get enough Rapid Syphilis/HIV dual tests to cover over 1/3 of all pregnant women in the 13th most populous country
- Make such tests 2-3x cheaper
- Expand to Angola
I'm grateful for Keyur & Nils for making a risky jump in their career then working like hell to improve the lives of my people now and the million others to come. I'm grateful for the brilliant people at CE for finding cause areas like these by also researching like hell and putting together an effective team to tackle it. You all made this possible now. Insane stuff.
Mind boggling details below from their newsletter:
Philippines
Supply
Empower
Train
Angola
oh what a great way to put it and thanks for posting this. I share about better giving for fun so I haven't sit myself down to really thinking about it deeply though I've been thinking about this in passing for a long time now.
I experience these problems often when i'm sharing about EA. My angle was off even to me but I couldn't point a finger to it. These feel like you hit the nail on the head.
- "It gets at what the target audience really wants to feel — confidence in impact — without making them do something many aren’t ready for: comparing different ways of doing good."
Yeah, i admit i made many people's eye glaze over with just a sentence or so in about the "fun" nuaces of this.
- "It avoids the reading “everybody else is doing this wrong and we’re doing it right”.
When I made this mistake, others BS alarms were blaring out and disengaged.
- "It doesn’t attack previous donation decisions."
With some charitable ones, I didn't even talk about it as I didn't quite know how to go about it without slighting their previous/current donations.
- "puts the viewer outside of the problem, looking in. It makes them a problem-solver, rather than putting them on the defensive. And if they see themselves reflected, they have the company of millions rather than feeling like they’re in the hot seat."
What a valuable skill this would be for EA comms to do more of. Looking forward to the next GWWC comms piece
"Lemiently Stoic"
Thank you for writing this, Tobias. I can see why you feel confused about this, I think it makes sense to feel so. It sucks your friends made you feel bad about it.
I can't say what the right thing to do was in that situation, but I can say I am with you that it isn't right to be harsh to ourselves and others for not making the most optimized decision all the time.
No one needs help just because they spend their personal time and money on a stray dog, including you. I can see why this might still be hard to accept. Perhaps reframing it like this might help?
I currently live in a place where there are a lot of suffering people and animals. Most of the time, I can't help them. I try to not ignore them, though; I acknowledge them in ways I can. I think they really appreciate that. When I say no to people begging, I still kindly look them in the eye and smile to say sorry. For strays, I give them small treats.
Since I can't avoid it, I cope by reframing it as a daily reminder of why this work means so much. That I'm helping this many beings who are in need, if not more.
It hurts that I'm affected, but I see it as an indication that I still care. I think I would actually be really worried if I am no longer affected.
Yes! I got long COVID for many months and needed to reduce my work hours significantly. It's under-researched, and there was very little I could do about it.
I can't imagine how debilitating ME/CFS are. Averting that, too, would be so wonderful.
If true, this is insanely amazing!
As someone who lives in a 3rd world country where dengue is endemic and the healthcare systems' treatments and testing are outdated (understandably, as they are super stretched), this would be such an immense relief for us!
It never really sinks in when I learned about this until I had to experience it first hand when I got a 40C/104F fever 2 weeks ago.
Most hospitals were full. I was finally brought to a private one, but they gave me the wrong dengue test, the wrong medication, the wrong reading of my x-ray and despite being on a stretcher, they couldn't admit me or refer me to the nearest hospital either as they were both over their capacity.
It's not uncommon to take 20-30 hours sitting at the hospital hall before being able to be admitted, if at all.
Then, the costs charged after are way out of reach for most people, even in a public hospital. Most families, even the ones I know who are well off and have doctors in their families, end up in debt for years.
400 million infections per year.
The potential of alleviating so much suffering makes me teary-eyed with happiness. Cross fingers that this goes well!
If I'm not mistaken and in case anyone was unsure what GHW meant (me), it likely stands for Global Health and Wellbeing.
*mindlessly typed eaforum
"wth, why comic sans"
"oh, haha funny"
*try find more funny in the community tab
*sees Nathan's post about the new time article
*sad, confused, dizzy huhu
*comic sans softened the blow though
"ty online team."
"drama curfew when?"
Also, I love the gel sleeping mat was mentioned because I also recommend that to people (alongside an affordable memory foam topper). It really helps with sleep, general sharpness, mood and electricity bills!
Thank you for taking the time to write this. I love how this was written too. It's in a way where I don't feel like something is being sold to me and it's just a genuine reflection of why EA is still really wonderful.
I at times honestly forget why this movement/community is uniquely valuable. But when I remember, they're enough to keep me hopeful again. As you mentioned, being truly empowered, taking corrective actions are the norm, collective learning etc. all these aspects of the community/movement are still here. They help reassure me that we will continue to do better. Thank you for sharing and helping remind us all.