Each year on November 17th, VIA Global Health joins the global community to observe World Prematurity Day, when we acknowledge the health challenges of preterm babies and the stress on their families worldwide.   

While there have been incredible advances in medical technologies and procedures in recent years, there is much work yet to be done.  Approximately 15 million babies are born preterm each year, representing almost 10% of all babies born worldwide. Complications from preterm birth is the leading cause of death in children under five years old, accounting for almost 1 million deaths each year. (World Health Organization). For preterm babies who survive, many, particularly in lower-resource settings, face long-term burdens of prematurity-related disabilities that also have a big effect on their families and healthcare systems.  

There are life-saving interventions for premature babies, ranging from Kangaroo Mother Care (skin-to-skin contact) to other products such as temperature-controlled beds, temperature monitoring, oxygen delivery through masks or breathing machines, as well as fluids and medications.  When the appropriate solutions are delivered on time, and by appropriately trained healthcare providers and care takers, the prospects of premature babies to “survive and thrive” increase exponentially. 

That is why VIA Global Health joins forces with innovative companies like Warmilu, whose products spread the warmth to save lives by addressing hypothermia in babies.  They created a solution called the IncuBlanket, which uses phase-change technology to generate instant non-electric, regulated (safe), and long-lasting warmth. The IncuBlanket was specifically designed to thermoregulate infants who are at risk of becoming hypothermic and serves as a supplement to a traditional incubator, a transport incubator, and/or kangaroo mother care. This system consists of the blanket that has been specially designed to accommodate a premature infant and the InstaWarmer heat pack, which can be activated instantly with the click of a disk and reused up to 100 times.   Warmilu is currently serving in 77 hospitals in 75 countries and is on its way to saving over 10,100 more infants in resource-scarce settings. VIA Global Health is proud to provide access to this solution.  

“Anything we can do with our partners to save babies’ lives is a win,” says VIA CEO and Co-Founder Noah Perin. “We recognize that there are millions of babies born prematurely every year, and many of those will not have access to critical solutions to help them grow and develop, but products like the IncuBlanket which are effective and affordable can help us close the equity gap, and that is one of our company’s priorities.” 

“Warmth is a basic need like food or water for promoting infant health,” explained Grace Hsia, CEO and Co-Founder of Warmilu. “Creating equitable, affordable, and life-saving healthcare solutions with partners like VIA Global Health or Doctors Without Borders is a critical part of public health advancement and one that can build a healthier start and brighter future for our next generation and their families and communities. Empowering infants empowers families.”  

VIA Global Health, as an online procurement platform, has positively impacted the lives of over 4 million people through its distribution channels for buyers in LMICs, who serve public, private, and the FBO/NGO health care facilities.  VIA Global Health is a market leader in creating awareness and access for life-saving products, and managing customer-oriented services from purchase to delivery.   

 
At VIA, we believe every baby and their family should have access to life-saving medical equipment, and we will continue to contribute to global efforts to brighten the futures of babies born too soon.  

To learn more about prematurity and the products VIA offers, please visit our Buyers Guide here.    

VIA Global Health is reinventing the global healthcare supply chain with a vision to scale health innovation to the 6 billion people living in emerging economies. Leveraging our e-commerce and logistics platform, VIA connects global healthcare equipment suppliers to a network of verified local distributors – with a mission to create universal access to the tools that enable quality healthcare. For media inquiries please email press@viaglobalhealth.com