Partnerships make us stronger
At Newborn Solutions, we believe in partnerships to generate more social impact.
In collaboration with the Research in Society program of the Barcelona Science Park (PCB), we created an activity for high school students, on welcoming the exhibition The Faces of Meningitis of the Spanish Association Against Meningitis( AEM), visible to all members of the PCB in February 2022.
The partnership with the PCB was a success, here is the link to the news it published.
Challenge
On February 10, 17 and 24, after visiting the exhibition, high school groups participated in a Challenge that we created specifically to raise awareness of the disease, particularly its consequences and the importance of vaccination. We took the opportunity to present our activity as a startup of non-invasive medical devices to detect and monitor infections in serous fluids, with a focus on infant meningitis.
The activity was problem solving in groups of 5 to 6 students. The challenge was to find innovative ideas to quantify the number of people affected by meningitis in Spain. The groups had 10 minutes to brainstorm ideas and then presented them in common, highlighting the pros and cons of each proposal.
We were very pleased with the enthusiasm of the students when proposing ideas, digital communication campaigns and in traditional channels, awareness campaigns in public spaces, contact tracking as a “census” or public forms, through collaborations with traditional media, influencers, or healthcare institutions.
While the issue of data protection related to health and medical records of citizens arose, a topic of special importance and relevance for our team, it was very interesting to be able to engage in the debate.
The faces of meningitis, a traveling exhibition of the Spanish Association against Meningitis
In October 2020 the World Health Organization (WHO) published the document “Defeating meningitis by 2030: a global road map” in which it called on all member states to commit to implement all necessary measures to defeat meningitis by 2030. These measures include curing meningitis survivors and its sequelae.
The exhibition “The Faces of Meningitis” shows how the after-effects of meningitis are lifelong. These sequelae generate many costs: personal, physical, and psychological, economic, social, etc. The reality is that meningitis has repercussions not only for those affected but also for society as a whole: the patient, healthcare personnel, family members and, in short, society as a collective.
The incidence of meningitis is low in Spain and developed countries, there are few cases annually, but the long term physical and psychological effects are permanent, for life. For this reason, the accumulation of people affected year after year has a very strong impact on society. It is for this reason that we feel it is very important to quantify how many people are affected by meningitis in Spain and to find a solution that allows us to measure it and shed a light on those affected by meningitis. The work of raising awareness combined with support for those affected and their families is one of the pillars of the tireless work carried out by the AEM. We were proud to coordinate the hosting of the exhibition at the PCB, and to bring the scientific community closer to the people behind the disease.
In the picture, from left to right: Mireia – Ambassador of the AEM. Maria Terrades – Barcelona Science Park director. Valentine Pironneau – Newborn Solutions Communication director. Elena Moya – Vice-president of the Spanish Association against Meningitis (AEM).
