Global health experts recommend the institutionalization of births (as opposed to home births) as a strategy to achieve Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 to reduce maternal and infant mortality. In response, the Indian government is currently financially incentivizing women to deliver in health facilities. However, these institutions lack the infrastructure and trained medical professionals to handle increased volume of births. As a result, unsanitary birthing conditions persist even in hospital settings and infection rates remain high; both are leading causes of maternal and infant mortality.
Target Market
- JANMA is sold through two types of customers: medical institutions (e.g., hospital pharmacies, health care centers, and rural clinics); and non-profit aid organizations working to improve the health and wellbeing of women and families in developing countries. Ultimately JANMA improves the lives of our target beneficiaries: underprivileged women worldwide. We entered the market in 2010 in Tamil Nadu, India, home to three million rural women living in poverty who lack access to a clean birth environment; we’ve since sold 10,000 units in ten states in India and four countries in Africa with minimal marketing efforts, and are filling orders for 60,000 more this year.
JANMA Impact
JANMA effectively and efficiently prevents problems that lead to maternal and neonatal mortality, while empowering women to take a more proactive role in ensuring the health and safety of mother and child before, during, and after the delivery process. AYZH expects to improve the lives of 6 million women over the next 5 years through improved access to quality health services, giving them more time, money, and opportunity to lift themselves, their families, and their communities out of poverty.
Design
JANMA is the first “green” clean birth kit widely accessible on the market, containing higher quality, lower cost components, packaged in an attractive jute bag that new mothers can reuse as a purse. Our business philosophy and competitive advantage echoes the words of Prof. Anil Guptas: “The poor are not poor in mind. They are willing to pay for quality products if those products can solve the challenges they face and make their life easier and better.” Additionally, we employ local women to assemble JANMA creating economic opportunity in the communities we serve.
Awards and Recognitions
Awards and Recognitions: Due to JANMA’s success, ayzh has earned many awards including the World Health Care Conference Affordable Health Innovation Award (2011), the Clinton Global Initiative University Outstanding Commitment Award (2010), and was one of 61 finalists chosen for the INDEX Awards, one of the world’s largest design competitions. In addition, ayzh founder, Zubaida Bai, was selected as a TED India fellow (2009), Ashoka Maternal Health fellow (2010-2011), and an Echoing Green fellow (2012), and has engendered worldwide support from and exposure from organizations such as The Gates Foundation, the Harvard School of Public Health’s Maternal Task Force, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Design-Lab.
Contact and Social Media
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