Three of the eight Millennium Development Goals focus specifically on improving the health of the world's poor, but improving healthcare is critical if any of the goals are to be achieved. Much of the medical equipment produced for rich countries is too expensive for use in rural developing areas, despite the need for improved care. Tackling this contradiction are several initiatives that are reinventing medical devices and procedures with the needs and resources of poor countries in mind.

Disease Detection

Recognizing that conventional laboratory diagnosis of diseases can be prohibitively expensive in developing countries, San Francisco-based Sustainable Sciences Institute (SSI) is helping public health workers in poor areas take advantage of the latest advances in molecular and biological technology. The group has demonstrated how - with a basic knowledge of the processes - DNA, blood and urine analysis can be done without expensive equipment for one-hundredth the cost of traditional methods.

NextBillion.net is pleased to announce the creation of a new Resources section of the site. Content is organized into five categories:

* Featured Content: Research and interviews produced exclusively by the Development Through Enterprise team.

* Case Studies: More than 3 dozen case studies of BOP-oriented enterprises organized by the following sectors: Agriculture, E-Commerce, Education, E-Governance, Energy, Financial Services, Health, Housing, IT & Telecommunications, Retailing, and Strategy.

* Publications: Books, Reports, and Videos that explore the relationship between development and enterprise.

* Conference Resources: Agendas, speaker bios, session summaries, presentations, and videos of keynote speakers for WRI-organized BOP conferences.

* Links: To several Academic Institutions, Blogs, Initiatives, Consulting Firms and other Relevent Sites that focus on the base of the pyramid.