Uganda has one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world but ad agency Beattie McGuinness Bungay (BMB) in New York has come up with an initiative to address this issue.
Together with a think tank for Unicef’s global initiative, The Future of Health, BMB has created the Information Blanket. Serving the dual purpose of offering important health information to new mothers as well as providing them with a warm swaddling blanket.
The Information Blanket hopes to give infants the best chance of survival by educating their parents about vaccination frequency, high temperatures, breastfeeding, doctor’s appointment reminders and a list of early illness warning signs.
Neil Powell, a BMB partner, explains that the initiative quickly grew into a company. Last month the blanket was launched in Uganda, working with the Shanti Uganda Society. The idea is to roll-out the Information Blanket in underdeveloped areas all over the world. With the roll-out of the first 200 blankets to mothers in the Luwero District of Uganda, Powell says women travelled for kilometers to get one.
The Information Blanket is being made available in English and can be purchased on their website. For every blanket bought on the site, the organisation will give one to a baby in Uganda. There are also plans to sell them at retail outlets in New York.
