Saving Babies With Weak Lungs

Pioneer Medical Research Foundation‘s Project Palav implements a simple cost effective breathing support system that provides breathing support to newborns and saves lives.

In 1990, the World Health Organization Millennium Development Goals were established to improve healthcare outcomes. Today, however, there still remains a high rate of neonatal mortality in rural regions of developing countries (30/1000 live births). A significant number of neonates require expensive emergency postpartum care that cannot be facilitated by ill-equipped facilities and inexperienced health care providers. Often transport systems to advanced are unorganized, unsafe, and do not provide critical en-route care. Over 75% of neonates transported in this manner are hypothermic, cyanotic, hypoglycemic, and thus vulnerable to severe clinical complications.

Thus, parents are left with financial burden and a potential recovery depending on resources or the future of their child in the hands of fate rather than science.

Pioneer Medical Research Foundation is a Michigan and India based 501c3 nonprofit N.G.O., and non-profit under Section 25 of the Companies Act in India that strives towards diminishing neonatal mortality. Statistics demonstrate the loss of one baby per minute in developing countries due to weak lungs. Pioneer strives towards ‘savings Infants with weak lungs’ with a firm belief that all babies deserve to have access to basic medical treatment and support at birth.

They breathe each breath with a drive to save one million infants globally over the next twenty years.

The novel mission of Pioneer Medical Research Foundation is to combat neonatal respiratory illness by providing the fundamental medical necessities to international clinics that serve an underprivileged and ill-equipped population. Although there has been a consistent decline in the W.H.O infant Mortality Rate due to advances in technology and social initiative, the rate is still disturbingly slow. A significant proportion of preterm neonates require specialized respiratory support at birth-resuscitation to support underinflated lungs. Immediate care. These emergency procedures cannot be facilitated in ill-equipped health facilities. Many care providers do not have adequate training to provide neonates as improper action, or lack of action, may lead to adverse effects on the respiratory system. Project Palav emphasizes the importance of education, which is imperative in the specialized care of prematurely born infants. Over the last twenty months, Project Palav’s efforts have been able to decrease mortality rate in rural from 65% to 18% by supplying and refurbishing used equipment in rural Maharashtra, work which it has been recognized by the prestigious American Academy of Pediatrics.

Over the past five years, Pioneer has successfully integrated and implemented high-end technology such as Therapeutic Hypothermia for newborns with birth asphyxia in India at level three neonatal intensive care units (NICU), humidified high flow nasal cannula in rural health care centers, provided ventilators for newborns with respiratory distress, and trained doctors, nurses, and midwives in rural areas of India and Africa. (Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chattisgarh, Andra Pradesh, Punjab, - Sri Lanka, Kenya, and Ghana)

Pioneer Medical Research Foundation and its Project Palav have previously been to the Bill Gates Foundation, USAID, and BIRAC All Children’s Thriving Seed Grant 2015 final round in July of 2015 for the development of a neonatal transport system. Since then, Dr. Nitin Chouthai, the principal investigator for this project has been nominated to lead and represent the Children’s Hospital of Michigan and Wayne State University for the Coalition of Centers for Global Child Health. Pioneer was in the second round of the 2017 cycle for the Bill Gates & USAID Seed Grant Challenge. Pioneer also has the gracious support of world proclaimed cricketer, Mr. Sunil Manohar Gavaskar, on its mission. He has helped produce campaign advertisement and raise money for their mission.

Pioneer has received outpouring support not only abroad, but also within the United States itself, with the development of a strong, motivated team, alongside local community/governmental support. Pioneer has additionally hosted three extremely successful3K Palav Walkathons in the suburbs of Detroit and is gearing towards its fourth annual walk in June 2018’s currently. At Detroit Medical Center Pioneer has started to help address quality improvement projects to help decrease neonatal mortality here in downtown. Quality improvement initiative for temperature maintenance and qualify improvement initiatives to improve breast feeding in Detroit are commenced. Collaboration with other like minded individuals to global health innovation conference as well as joined hands with global health alliance at Wayne State University. In 2019 we will provide sponsorship to a resident to visit India for global health training.

With their collaborative efforts, the team is confident that they will be able continue to truly make a difference in the lives of the babies, families, and clinicians living in rural regions. Hundreds of lives are lost which could be easily prevented by the implementation of simple equipment and training practices.

Together with the support of the community, Pioneer can make one small step towards providing safer medical treatment for neonates in need and ameliorating a major global public health issue in underdeveloped parts of the world. No parent should have to make this choice. Hereby, we invite you to join forces with Palav to help us scale the work and bring a larger change in saving babies born with weak lungs. Please contact us at info@palav.org to help scale the work!

Our Mission : 

•  Provide Breathing Support Equipment for newborns with breathing difficulty.
•   Provide Training to Healthcare Providers
•   Provide Upgraded Rural and Tribal Health Care Centers
•   Provide Palav Pouch and transport Incubators for safe transport of babies to Level II hospitals

Volunteering Activities Available:

• Educational Content Development
• Medical Equipment procurement
• Medical Equipment Logistics
• Information technology
  • App Development
  • Watson Utilization
• Medical Innovation
• Communication
• Fundraising

Non Profit Registration No: 27-3489746

Short Biography and Abstract

Dr. Nitin Chouthai is a consultant neonatologist and an associate professor of Pediatrics at Division of Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine at Children’s Hospital of Michigan, Wayne State University. He was born and brought up in Pune and completed his medical education and Pediatric residency at BJ Medical College/Sassoon General hospital Pune, India.He also received training in Neonatology in UK where he completed MRCPCH (UK) examinations. Dr. Chouthai has been involved in multiple funded research projects around neonatal intensive care delivery. He has published several scientific manuscripts. Over last seven years, Dr. Chouthai has been involved with Pioneer Medical Research Foundation (www.palav.org) and is working towards improving neonatal infrastructure as well as bringing in cutting edge technology like therapeutic hypothermia in the developing world. Dr. Chouthai has also been implementing non-invasive ventilation for newborns with respiratory distress in the developing world. Through his non-profit organization Dr. Chouthai has upgraded more than 30 centers in 4 countries mainly India, Ghana, Kenya and Sri Lanka. Pioneer Medical Research Foundation and its Project Palav have previously been to the Bill Gates Foundation, USAID, and BIRAC All Children’s Thriving Seed Grant 2015 final round in July of 2015 for the development of a neonatal transport system. Pioneer Medical Research Foundation’s work received overall Best Poster Award, International Child Health Section of AAP in 2014 for abstract titled: “Does more equipment availability improve infant mortality rate in hospitals in developing countries?”

Dr. Chouthai is instrumental in creating a mobile app:“Palav Life Connect” designed to locate nearest NICU where a baby can be transported to receive immediate care. Dr. Chouthai was appointed as anhonorary faculty at Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences- Deemed University. Dr. Chouthai also collaborated with Rotary foundation and was awarded a $98000 infrastructure grant to upgrade a 10 bed NICU in India in 2018.