HelpMum received a $250,000 grant to implement its AI vaccine intervention. The Patrick McGovern Foundation recently awarded the startup a $250,000 grant to support the deployment of its AI-Driven Vaccine Intervention Optimiser (ADVISER). The ADVISER framework is based on an integer linear program that aims to increase the overall likelihood of vaccination success.
The framework was initially created through a collaboration between the private research university Vanderbilt University and HelpMum as part of the Google AI for Social Good initiative. The framework additionally won top honors at the 2022 International Joint Conferences on Artificial Intelligence for its contribution to improving children’s health and wellness in Nigeria (IJCAI).
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The health startup was established in 2017 by Abiodun Adereni, who was a student at the University of Ibadan at the time. It uses technology and inexpensive birth kits to combat maternal and infant mortality. Adereni revealed during a phone call with TechCabal that he learned during a course that pregnant women in rural areas who keep animals nearby put their unborn children at risk for toxoplasmosis.
He claimed that after coming to this realization, he founded HelpMum, and after offering these women basic medical care, he discovered that the majority of infant deaths could be avoided. He then began collaborating with groups who felt the same way about these issues. A total of five grants totaling $500,000 have been given to the startup, including $250,000 from Google, $5,000 from the UN, $50,000 from Global Citizen, and $55,000 from Facebook.
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The majority of these grants, according to Adereni, have been used to create technological remedies for maternal and infant mortality. HelpMum has created an ecosystem of applications in addition to offering clean birth kits, including a tracking system for immunizations, an e-commerce platform, a pregnancy tracker, and various other features. HelpMum and the Oyo State Government have collaborated to make all primary health centers in the state available for this purpose, making it possible for women living in rural areas to access these apps.