Breathing for Babies: Revolutionizing Care for Acute Respiratory Distress

Acute respiratory distress is a common cause of death among the one million preterm babies worldwide who die every year. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is a proven effective therapy to reduce these deaths, but it is not available to the overwhelming majority of the world's children, particularly in low-resource settings. Less than 1 percent of neonatal intensive care units surveyed across Africa reported being able to meet the oxygen blending (the combination of pure oxygen with air to regulate the concentration of oxygen delivered) needs of all their newborns. To increase the availability of CPAP where it's needed most, Boston-based Vayu Global Health Innovations developed the Breathing for Babies package - including an innovative oxygen blender and a bubble CPAP - that do not require electricity or advanced bioengineering support, and that are available at one-third to one-half the cost of available alternatives. The Vayu bubble CPAP and oxygen blender have regulatory approval in 14 and 11 countries, respectively. To expand access to and scale Breathing for Babies, Vayu aims to generate awareness and demand through partnerships and demonstration programs. With support from the DIV Fund, Vayu is working with partners to evaluate the effectiveness of Breathing for Babies in different clinical settings, analyze its cost-effectiveness, implement demonstration programs in Ghana and Tanzania in close coordination with key stakeholders, and implement a commercialization strategy across at least a dozen countries. Given the current worldwide attention on the benefits of neonatal CPAP treatment, this evidence helps Vayu overcome regulatory hurdles and enable implementation through governments and international organizations.