Infant mortality is not a pleasant topic to consider. According to the World Health Organization, 4.5 million children died during their first year of life in 2015. JustMilk, an international organization working to create and introduce an efficient low technology pharmaceutical and nutrient delivery system for infants, states that 2.9 million infants die a year in their first month of life, many of those in the first hours or days.
In an earlier article, we wrote about My Kushi Baby, a health data storage and tracking system designed to assist healthcare workers who serve children in remote regions where accurate data otherwise would not be available. My Kushi Baby can improve children’s healthcare with consistent data; JustMilk aims to save lives by providing preventative or immediately needed drugs to children who might not get them.
The basic concept of the JustMilk device is simple. A thin silicon cup that fits over the front of a woman’s breast has a permeable tip that holds dispersible medication or nutrients. When the baby breastfeeds the mother’s milk mixes with and carries along the pharmaceutical.
JustMilk is partnering with universities, non-profit organizations, non-government organizations (NGOs), pharmaceutical companies, and communities in developing countries around the world to determine the area-specific needs. It is crucially important for mothers to accept the concept of a silicon device while nursing as well as learning how to use it with the pill-shaped pharmaceutical or nutrient load. Compared to other forms of drug delivery, the JustMilk has been accepted favorably with test communities in Kenya and South Africa to prevent the transmission of HIV/Aids.
The JustMilk device has no microcircuits and doesn’t report to a smartphone or tablet, but the technology and human factors entailed in the acceptance and use of this life-saving device for newborns and infants have worldwide appeal.
