Nitesh Kumar Jangir, an electronics engineer based in Bangalore, India received the 2019 Commonwealth Secretary-General’s Innovation for Sustainable Development Award in the ‘People’ category for creating the world’s first neonatal Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) called ‘Saans.’ He received this alongside 14 other inventors chosen all across 53 member-countries of the commonwealth in London.
A first of its kind, this low-cost neonatal breathing device is powered through a multitude of ways as long as it has a direct source of electricity. The source can come from a vehicle’s electrical supply, compressed gas, a rechargeable battery or even manually air pumped. In the small amount of time that it has been available in the market, it has already saved hundreds of newborn babies throughout India.
Jangir created ‘Saans’ to avoid deaths of premature babies from respiratory distress syndrome with a breathing support device in case the families have no access to complex medical equipment nearby.
“Our mission is to try and ensure that babies don’t lose their lives due to the lack of access to a piece of technology,” Jangir said at the ceremony in London last week after he was presented the award by Prince Harry, the Youth Ambassador of the Commonwealth, and Baroness Patricia Scotland, Commonwealth Secretary-General.
“In countries like India, with erratic electricity supply and limited resources at public hospitals, this neonatal breathing support equipment can be used without any complex training. So, anyone, anywhere can use this device and deliver crucial support to premature babies. This award will go a long way in upscaling this device across the Commonwealth countries, for use in similar conditions in regions like Africa,” he explained.
“The response from every part of the Commonwealth has been phenomenal. By showcasing the contribution their innovations are making towards building a better world, these awards will help our unsung heroes win that crucial next round of support, mentoring and investment they need to scale up and fulfill their dreams,” said Abhik Sen, Head of Innovation and Partnerships at the Commonwealth Secretariat. “Equally, these awards are intended to inspire the incredibly youthful population of Commonwealth countries to dream big and believe that no problem is too big to solve through innovation,” he added.
All 15 winners of different categories of the inaugural Commonwealth Innovation Awards will receive a trophy, a certificate and a £2,000 (about $2,524) cash prize.
There are five thematic categories within the innovation awards and these are: promoting peace; protecting the planet; improving the lives of people; boosting prosperity; and building partnerships for development in the Commonwealth.
The selection process is made with an accordance to the impact and potential these inventions have in order to advance one or more of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals in Commonwealth countries. Other winners hailed from the Caribbean, Africa, Australia and Canada.
The engineer and inventor co-founded Coeo Labs which is a medical device company with the end goal of preventing deaths in the case of emergency and critical care situations.
Saans, which has been in development stages during the last four years, has now recently been circulating all across India within district hospitals and medial colleges that are not fully equipped with neonatal ICU facilities. Another benefit to these hospitals is its affordable price which is three times cheaper than any other machine similar to its use, high-quality and benefits.
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