Colalife
Building unlikely alliances to save lives
ColaLife is working to leverage the distribution network of The Coca-Cola Company (TCCC) to get simple medicines, such as rehydration salts, and information on how to use them, to the most remote areas in developing countries. Coca-Cola seems to get everywhere in developing countries, yet essential medicines don't. ColaLife uses the same principles and networks that Coca-Cola and other commodity producers use, to open up private sector supply chains for simple medicines. In developing countries, 1 in 8 children die before their fifth birthday and the second biggest killer is diarrhoea. Most forms of diarrhoea can be treated simply and cheaply in the home and most communities have a shop. The large majority do not have a well-stocked health centre. At the current rate of improvement in child survival, it will take more than 150 years for child mortality rates in developing countries to match those in Europe and the USA today.