• News
    • Latest news
    • News search
    • Health
    • Finance
    • Food
    • Career news
    • Content series
    • Try Devex Pro
  • Jobs
    • Job search
    • Post a job
    • Employer search
    • CV Writing
    • Upcoming career events
    • Try Career Account
  • Funding
    • Funding search
    • Funding news
  • Talent
    • Candidate search
    • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Events
    • Upcoming and past events
    • Partner on an event
  • Post a job
  • About
      • About us
      • Membership
      • Newsletters
      • Advertising partnerships
      • Devex Talent Solutions
      • Contact us
Join DevexSign in
Join DevexSign in

News

  • Latest news
  • News search
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Food
  • Career news
  • Content series
  • Try Devex Pro

Jobs

  • Job search
  • Post a job
  • Employer search
  • CV Writing
  • Upcoming career events
  • Try Career Account

Funding

  • Funding search
  • Funding news

Talent

  • Candidate search
  • Devex Talent Solutions

Events

  • Upcoming and past events
  • Partner on an event
Post a job

About

  • About us
  • Membership
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising partnerships
  • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Contact us
  • My Devex
  • Update my profile % complete
  • Account & privacy settings
  • My saved jobs
  • Manage newsletters
  • Support
  • Sign out
Latest newsNews searchHealthFinanceFoodCareer newsContent seriesTry Devex Pro
    • News
    • News
    • #innov8aid

    I read it in the paper

    A U.S.-based nonprofit is developing a postage stamp-sized piece of paper that can detect anemia, high blood pressure and related conditions in pregnant women.

    By Ivy Mungcal // 27 July 2011
    Colorful pieces of paper. Photo by: Danielle / CC BY

    A postage stamp-sized piece of paper that can detect anemia, high blood pressure and related conditions in pregnant women. Sounds too good to be true? Well, not to a nonprofit that has been developing paper-based diagnostic devices for years and is now proposing a similar technology to help prevent high-risk pregnancies in poor rural communities.

    Diagnostics for All, a U.S.-based nonprofit group comprised of scientists and doctors, is currently working on a paper-based diagnostics device that can test the liver functions of people using powerful HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis drugs. It also recently received grants to develop agriculture tests using similar technology. Its latest initiative: two kinds of paper-based diagnostic kits that can detect high blood pressure, anemia and hyper- or hypoglycemia. These are conditions common among pregnant women; if undetected, they put a pregnancy at risk.

    The development of these maternal health-focused diagnostics devices is DFA’s entry to Saving Lives at Birth, a grants competition by the U.S. Agency for International Development, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Norway, World Bank and Grand Challenges Canada. The competition sought innovative ideas for delivering treatment and prevention health services to pregnant women and infants in rural communities around the world. USAID recently released a shortlist of 77 ideas.

    The plan: Distribute diagnostic devices to rural communities in developing countries, where hospitals and health centers are few and faraway, if any. The devices are as small as a postage stamp and cost approximately $0.10.

    The idea behind DFA’s innovation is quite simple: Postage stamp-sized paper is patterned with channels and wells of water-repellent materials where biological and chemical reagents – substances used to start chemical reactions – are then deposited. These substances change colors upon contact with blood, urine, saliva, sweat and other biological samples. The resulting colors can be compared with a reference scale printed on the test device itself.

    Each diagnostics device requires minimal equipment and training – all that’s needed is a drop of blood drawn from a finger prick or a drop of urine. No syringes, no electricity and no sample preparations. Production of the tests is also simple, requiring only a sheet of paper and an office printer. The tests can be manufactured locally in developing countries and DFA says it plans to tap local distributors to market the kits.

    DFA’s innovation is in line with an increasing focus among donors on easy-to-use health interventions for community health workers and the rural poor. And while it is still in the laboratory stage, and may take time to scale up, it marks another step toward the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals on maternal and child health.

    Read more:

    • ‘Saving Lives at Birth’ Challenge Shortlists 77 Ideas

    • USAID and Partners Launch New Funding Mechanism for Global Development Innovators

    • Rajiv Shah Outlines USAID’s New Global Health Focus on Innovation, Vaccines

    • Global Health
    • Innovation & ICT
    • Funding
    Printing articles to share with others is a breach of our terms and conditions and copyright policy. Please use the sharing options on the left side of the article. Devex Pro members may share up to 10 articles per month using the Pro share tool ( ).

    About the author

    • Ivy Mungcal

      Ivy Mungcal

      As former senior staff writer, Ivy Mungcal contributed to several Devex publications. Her focus is on breaking news, and in particular on global aid reform and trends in the United States, Europe, the Caribbean, and the Americas. Before joining Devex in 2009, Ivy produced specialized content for U.S. and U.K.-based business websites.

    Search for articles

    Related Jobs

    • Individual Consultant: Hospital Planner
      Ulan Bator, Mongolia | Mongolia | East Asia and Pacific
    • Individual Consultant: Health Service Needs Assessment Consultant
      Mongolia | East Asia and Pacific
    • Director Advocacy and Strategic Partnerships
      Nairobi, Kenya | Kenya | Eastern Africa
    • See more

    Most Read

    • 1
      Opinion: Mobile credit, savings, and insurance can drive financial health
    • 2
      Strengthening health systems by measuring what really matters
    • 3
      Opinion: India’s bold leadership in turning the tide for TB
    • 4
      Opinion: Why vision is key to unlocking global development potential
    • 5
      How AI-powered citizen science can be a catalyst for the SDGs

    Trending

    Financing for Development Conference

    The Trump Effect

    Newsletters

    • News
    • Jobs
    • Funding
    • Talent
    • Events

    Devex is the media platform for the global development community.

    A social enterprise, we connect and inform over 1.3 million development, health, humanitarian, and sustainability professionals through news, business intelligence, and funding & career opportunities so you can do more good for more people. We invite you to join us.

    • About us
    • Membership
    • Newsletters
    • Advertising partnerships
    • Devex Talent Solutions
    • Post a job
    • Careers at Devex
    • Contact us
    © Copyright 2000 - 2025 Devex|User Agreement|Privacy Statement