Collaboration and innovation: Advancing technology solutions to reduce maternal mortality

Purpose: In the poorest regions of the world, women continue to die during pregnancy and childbirth even though technologies exist that could save their lives. Governments, donors and private sector groups struggle to get these tools to women. The problem, in large part, is due to fragmented information and lack of reliable data on these tools and their potential for impact, which deters investment. In 2011, Merck and PATH joined forces to address this issue by developing an objective analysis of maternal health technologies for use in resource-limited settings.

Methods: Merck, through its 10-year $500-million Merck for Mothers initiative, and PATH applied their expertise, a novel health impact model created by Research Triangle Institute, and a PATH-developed assessment tool involving two dozen criteria to evaluate 38 innovations to prevent, diagnose and treat the leading causes of maternal death—post-partum hemorrhage and pre-eclampsia/eclampsia.

Major results: For the first time, the global health community has an in-depth, comparative assessment that can guide investment in innovations to reduce maternal mortality— an invaluable resource when funds are scarce.

Recommendations: The global health community can use the assessment process and findings to (1) build a roadmap to advance technologies with the greatest potential to save lives, (2) pinpoint ways to improve existing products, (3) support informed decisions about where to invest to have the greatest impact on reducing maternal mortality and (4) catalyze and coordinate multi-sector action to advance high-potential technologies.