Giving Compass' Take:

• An article at Skoll details a recent partnership between African and global philanthropists to mass-produce cheap medical equipment for greater accessibility in Africa.

• How can you join the effort to speed up the manufacturing process of medical equipment? What are you doing to support access to resources in vulnerable communities during the pandemic?

• Learn about how your support can go a long way in supporting nonprofit coronavirus relief efforts like this partnership.

African and global philanthropists have teamed up in an effort to help African nations secure cost effective ventilators, breathing support devices and other medical equipment.

Strive Masiyiwa co-founder of Higherlife Foundation, who has recently been appointed as an African Union Special Envoy to mobilise the private sector response to the COVID-19 pandemic, is leading a private partnership to start local manufacturing of much needed medical equipment for the African continent.

The initiative will start with the production of 1,000 bridge ventilators, a design that was provided to this partnership for free by Virgin Orbit and has recently received emergency use authorization by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). It is designed with a price significantly lower than a normal ventilator.

The partners are also in discussions with Virgin Galactic and The Spaceship Company regarding the oxygen helmet prototype produced in partnership with NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center in Edwards, California and the Aerospace Valley Task Force in California, pending a grant of emergency use authorization by the US FDA.

“We have found a major South African company called Invicta Holdings that can mass produce these bridge ventilators and oxygen helmets. Any country that wants them can buy them at cost from that company,” said Masiyiwa, founder and Group Chairman of Econet Global. “This is a not-for-profit venture for us as philanthropists”.

The philanthropists have come together to secure initial orders, ensuring that the devices can quickly reach healthcare professionals across the continent to save lives. This will be the first of many innovations that will be locally manufactured in Africa to serve the needs of over 1.2 billion people facing the onslaught of this pandemic.

Read the full article about medical equipment in African nations at Skoll.