What The Missing Billion Initiative does

The Missing Billion Initiative (MBI) is a privately held, time-bound global-health catalyst organization focused on closing the healthcare access gap for the 1.3 billion people living with disabilities worldwide. MBI works through three pillars — disseminating evidence, piloting solutions, and partnering for action — and targets Ministries of Health, health funders/donors, healthcare workers, and NGO implementors in low- and middle-income countries.

The organization's core product surface is a suite of assessment frameworks and training tools. The Facility Level Assessment (FLA) measures accessibility of health facilities across six thematic areas; the System Level Assessment (SLA) Toolkit evaluates health-system disability-inclusiveness at the governance, financing, data, and service-delivery levels; and the IDD Module extends the SLA to intellectual and developmental disabilities in partnership with Special Olympics International. Co-developed with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the Base Training on Disability Inclusive Healthcare is a train-the-trainer package adaptable to local contexts. A Healthcare Worker Survey Tool and a jointly published facility-design starter kit with Philips round out the current portfolio. In December 2024, MBI published a white paper conceptualizing three AI solutions (a Chatbot for IDD Care Soft Skills, an EasyRead Translator for medical documents, and an IDD Early Intervention Screener) — all currently at concept stage with no deployment disclosed.

MBI is funded as a nonprofit: it does not publicly disclose pricing or revenue. Income streams consist of consulting services (e.g., portfolio diagnostics for funders such as World Bank and WHO Europe), partnership funding from governments and development donors, and tool/training deployment. MBI is led by Interim CEO Dr. Krishna Jafa, with co-founder Prof. Hannah Kuper (LSHTM) on the leadership side and an Advisory Board drawing from McKinsey, the South African Medical Research Council, and Scope Impact. The organization is operating with an 8–12 person core team plus Fellows, and has executed national rollouts in Nigeria (40,000+ healthcare workers trained by November 2024), Mozambique (100+ CHWs in 6 provinces, 11 manuals updated), Kenya (400+ CHWs via Lwala), and is engaged with Abu Dhabi, Chile, and Uganda.

Name

The Missing Billion Initiative

Legal name

The Missing Billion Initiative

Website

https://themissingbillion.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Missing Billion Initiative is a nonprofit global-health catalyst that develops assessment tools, training programs, and AI concepts to make healthcare systems disability-inclusive, primarily serving Ministries of Health, health funders, and NGO implementors in low- and middle-income countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Global Health Consulting and Disability Inclusion Services

NAICS

Services for the Elderly and Persons with Disabilities (62412), Voluntary Health Organizations (813212)

SIC

Services-Health Services (8000), Services-Misc Health & Allied Services, Nec (8090)

akta.pro primary industry

Injury Prevention, Disability & Rehabilitation Programs (BPADAIAM)

akta.pro secondary industry

Disability Services & Assistive Solutions (Accessibility, Assistive Tech) (BPAGALAM)

Keywords

• Disability-inclusive healthcare
• Health system assessment
• Healthcare worker training
• Global health advocacy
• Disability inclusion tools

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Consulting Services: MBI provides portfolio diagnostic reviews and consulting services to health actors and funders to ensure existing operations are inclusive and considerate of disability. This includes working with organizations like World Bank and WHO Europe.
2. Partnership Funding: MBI operates as a catalyst organization supported by partnerships with governments and health funders who deploy their solutions. Funding comes from international development donors and government health ministries.
3. Tool Adoption and Training Deployment: MBI provides tools and training programs to organizations interested in rolling out disability-inclusive healthcare practices, with support and customization services.

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Missing Billion Initiative develops and deploys assessment tools (Facility Level Assessment, System Level Assessment, IDD Module) and training programs (Base Training on Disability Inclusive Healthcare, Healthcare Worker Survey Tool) to help Ministries of Health, funders, and implementors measure, improve, and scale disability-inclusive healthcare. It also provides consulting/portfolio diagnostic services to health actors and funders to ensure inclusive practices.

Product overview

The Missing Billion Initiative offers a suite of tools and resources focused on advancing disability-inclusive healthcare. The core offerings include training programs for healthcare workers (Base Training on Disability Inclusive Healthcare) and assessment tools (Facility Level Assessment and System Level Assessment) for measuring and improving accessibility of health facilities and health systems. Complementary products include the IDD Module for intellectual and developmental disabilities, a Healthcare Worker Survey Tool for understanding training needs, and a Design Starter Kit developed with Philips. An AI solutions portfolio is currently in conceptual stage, with three AI-powered tools proposed for supporting healthcare workers and patients with disabilities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Missing Billion Facility Level Assessment (FLA) A tool and accompanying menu of interventions to help Ministries of Health and health facilities measure, understand, and improve accessibility. Covers six thematic areas: communication before arrival, entrance, reception/corridors/rooms, reasonable accommodation, health worker training, and treatment/follow-up care.
• Missing Billion System Level Assessment (SLA) An assessment tool with indicators, steps, and tools to support actors in identifying progress and gaps toward disability-inclusiveness in health systems. Includes a framework covering system level (governance, leadership, financing, data) and service delivery components with scoring mechanisms.
• IDD Module (Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities) An add-on module to the System Level Assessment developed jointly with Special Olympics International to support actors in identifying progress and gaps in inclusion of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their caregivers within health systems.
• Base Training on Disability Inclusive Healthcare A comprehensive training package on disability-inclusive healthcare co-developed with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, designed to increase knowledge and skills of healthcare workers when assessing, treating, and referring people with disabilities. Includes train-the-trainer manual, trainer manual, and participant manual.
• Healthcare Worker Survey Tool A survey tool to help understand existing disability training initiatives and measure the training needs of healthcare workers, consisting of 27 questions about demographic background, prior training, and training needs related to disability.
• Designing an Inclusive Health Facility: A Starter Kit A guide providing tips, methods, and considerations for professionals seeking to create disability-inclusive health facility spaces, developed in collaboration with Philips.

Quantifiable outcome

• 10-20 years life expectancy gap reduction potential for people with disabilities
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

13 partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and flagship.

• Special Olympics InternationalcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Collaborated to develop IDD Module as add-on to System Level Assessment, focusing on barriers faced by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in accessing healthcare.
• Community Health Impact Coalition (CHIC)minorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Collaborated to survey 322 Community Health Workers in sub-Saharan Africa about their needs for disability training, generating evidence on training gaps.
• Department of Health, Abu DhabiflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated to create disability-inclusive health system and facilities in Abu Dhabi, applying MBI's assessment and training methodologies at the national level.
• Ministry of Health, ChileflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupported implementation of MBI System Level Assessment to provide evidence on disability inclusion of Chilean health system, leading to new national policy on health of persons with disabilities.
• Ministry of Health, MozambiquecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupported Ministry of Health with SLA application; results led to piloting training with 100 Community Health Workers in 6 provinces and integration of disability content in 11 training manuals.
• Ministry of Health, NigeriaflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerSupported rapid assessment of disability inclusion and developed training module on disability that has been rolled-out nationally to 40,000+ frontline healthcare workers.
• London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-developed base training on disability inclusive healthcare with LSHTM's International Center for Evidence in Disability, providing academic rigor and research foundation.
• Lwala (Kenya)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerPartnered to train 400+ Community Health Workers on providing quality, informed care to people with disabilities. Training adapted with local advisors and SCOPE.
• SCOPE (Scope Impact)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHuman-centered design firm supporting adaptation of base training for Kenya context with local advisors and lived experience of disability.
• PhilipscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint publication of 'Designing an inclusive health facility: a starter kit' providing tips, methods and considerations for creating disability-inclusive health facilities.
• World BankcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerWorked with World Bank to develop internal guidance for Task Team Leaders on disability-inclusion in health projects and programs.
• WHO EuropecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerDeveloped WHO Europe policy brief on disability-inclusive health systems, contributing to global guidance on the topic.
• FAMOD (Mozambican Forum of Associations of Persons with Disabilities)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMozambican Forum of Associations of Persons with Disabilities partnering with Ministry of Health to become actively involved in planning, budgeting, monitoring and evaluation of health programs.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Sightsavers: Disability-focused international NGO working on preventable blindness, neglected tropical diseases, and inclusive health systems in LMICs. Comparable in operating model and ministry-of-health engagement approach.
• CBM Global Disability Inclusion: International disability-focused development organization working on inclusive health, education, and rehabilitation in LMICs. Closely comparable as a comparable-sized disability-and-health nonprofit with government and donor partnerships.
• Humanity & Inclusion (Handicap International): Global disability and inclusion NGO operating rehabilitation and inclusive health programs in low-resource settings. Comparable in mission, target population, and operating geographies.
• Global Disability Innovation Hub: Disability and innovation accelerator based at UCL, working on assistive technology and inclusive design across global health. Comparable as a global disability-innovation hub with academic and policy ties.
• Special Olympics International: Global nonprofit focused on intellectual and developmental disabilities; co-developed MBI's IDD Module and shares the IDD-in-healthcare mission. It is the most natural direct peer given the joint product work.
• Leonard Cheshire: International disability nonprofit delivering inclusive education, employment, and health programs in LMICs. Comparable in mission and target population but with a broader service mandate beyond health.
• Inclusion International: Global federation advocating for people with intellectual disabilities and their families, with health-system advocacy as a core pillar. Comparable as a peer advocacy and policy organization serving the IDD population.
• ATscale Global Partnership for Assistive Technology: Cross-stakeholder global partnership focused on increasing access to assistive technology, with overlapping donor ecosystem (WHO, UNICEF, Gates). Comparable as a global health-and-disability systems initiative.

Broad incumbents

• World Health Organization: UN specialized agency setting global health policy and convening member states on disability inclusion. MBI has partnered with WHO Europe, but WHO is a vastly larger institutional incumbent in the same policy space.
• World Bank: Multilateral development institution financing health systems in LMICs. MBI has worked with the World Bank on disability-inclusion guidance, but the World Bank operates as a broader incumbent funder of the same health-system strengthening agenda.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights2 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/_missingbillion

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about The Missing Billion Initiative