SUVITA
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STARTED: Incubation Program 2019

Co-founder
SEED GRANT: $50,000
WEBSITE: https://www.suvita.org/

Fiona Conlon
Co-founder
Suvita works to increase uptake of childhood immunizations to combat vaccine-preventable diseases through building a network of immunization ambassadors and sending SMS reminders directly to parents.
CURRENT OR PREDICTED IMPACT:
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Enrolled over 400,000 caregivers for SMS reminders about vaccinations
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Recruited 555 immunization ambassadors in Saran district, Bihar, who are expected to reach over 8,000 children
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Sent SMS messages with information on proning for home care of COVID-19 to 340,000 enrolled users
ACHIEVEMENTS:
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Program and partnerships
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Signed an MoU with the Government of Maharashtra to roll out SMS reminders across the state; launched reminders for pregnancy care and childhood vaccinations in Satara district (2021)
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Received approval from our government partner, the State Health Society, to expand SMS reminders for vaccination in Bihar to a second district - Patna (2021)
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Learning
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Demonstrated the operational feasibility of a remote model for identifying community influencers and recruiting them as volunteer immunization ambassadors
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Completed a rapid RCT which found that SMSs did not significantly increase COVID-safe behaviors at the tail end of wave 1 of the pandemic (August 2020)
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Continuing to experiment with iterations of our immunization ambassador nomination and recruitment processes to increase efficiency and impact
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Conducted field visits with parents, ambassadors, and government workers (ANMs, ASHAs) in Bihar to better understand how our programs can integrate within existing systems to meet genuine needs
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Launched implementation of a pilot study in Maharashtra, led by Dr. Sebastian Bauhoff, Assistant Professor of Global Health and Economics at Harvard, and supported by the J-PAL CaTCH initiative, investigating the feasibility of conducting a future RCT in collaboration with the Maharashtra State Family Welfare Bureau
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Incubations and funders
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Incubated / funded by D-Prize (2020), The/Nudge Foundation (2020), Azim Premji University (2020), Founders Pledge (2020), Schmidt Futures (2021), and the Mulago Foundation (2021)
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IMPORTANT PUBLICATIONS:
ROOM FOR MORE FUNDING FOR 2022:
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$365,000