Vishwajeet Kumar

Every newborn deserves to live, dream and thrive to their fullest potential. Yet, more than 200,000 newborns die each year in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh (UP) alone. Seventeen years ago, as a young public health researcher, I waded into rural UP with the single-minded resolve of ending this great humanitarian tragedy in this challenging geography littered with failed global health interventions. Since then, I have had some successes, many failures and multiple lessons in my relentless quest to understand, discover and design solutions that are effective, just & lasting – while staying embedded in ground zero. My most important lesson is that the voices of those who we aim to impact need to be heard, respected and included at the highest levels of decision-making. Until they are treated as legitimate and equal stakeholders of the solution – not just part of the problem, this challenge will remain unsolved.