The builder's path
For: People with TB in Mizoram are dying in rising numbers, and those most at risk can't easily get help to see long treatment through.
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
ὁ δὲ ἀνεξέταστος βίος οὐ βιωτὸς ἀνθρώπῳ
Routes to a solution
Each route is a different kind of journey, with real people and organisations to contact at each step, starting with those in Mizoram.
Step 1
Join an impact incubator
Shape a model that pays for itself without excluding the people who need it.
Incubator for social enterprises in health, agriculture and livelihoods.
Lab-to-market platform for science and technology aimed at social problems.
Patient capital and fellowships for enterprises serving low-income communities.
The national startup programme: recognition, schemes and a directory of incubators.
Step 2
Raise patient capital
Impact funds and fellowships for enterprises serving low-income communities.
Incubator for social enterprises in health, agriculture and livelihoods.
Lab-to-market platform for science and technology aimed at social problems.
Incubator and investor at IIM Ahmedabad, with impact programmes.
Patient capital and fellowships for enterprises serving low-income communities.
Ideas, sources and tools for this problem, from first interviews to funding.
The national TB patient management platform, including Ni-kshay Mitra community support.
Treatment guidelines and programme data for TB in India.
Holds the State's TB case and death data and runs treatment.
More than 100 people have registered to adopt or support TB patients in Mizoram.
Starter prompt
Built from this problem's brief. Paste it into Claude or any AI assistant.
Help me design and build a first working prototype for this problem in Aizawl, Mizoram, India. Problem: People with TB in Mizoram are dying in rising numbers, and those most at risk can't easily get help to see long treatment through. Who it hurts: TB patients in Mizoram, especially in Aizawl district, and those with multi-drug-resistant TB or TB with HIV. The moment it hurts: Weeks into treatment, when side effects, travel and lost work make it hard to keep taking medicines and attending check-ups. What people do today: Patients are tracked through the national TB programme, and community support comes from people who sign up to adopt patients on the Ni-kshay platform. Why it is still unsolved: Deaths have risen every year since 2020 even as new cases held roughly steady, and the published figures don't show which patients are dying or why, so support can't be aimed at them. What solved looks like: A Mizo-language companion for TB patients and their families that sends dose and appointment reminders, flags missed doses or worrying symptoms to the treatment supporter, and connects high-risk patients to nutrition support and community donors. Where: Aizawl, Mizoram, India First, list what you would need to learn from the people affected before building, as interview questions. Then propose the simplest version that would help, the screens or messages it needs, and the data it would use. Keep it cheap to run, accessible, and respectful of people's privacy. Flag anything you are unsure about instead of guessing.
Talk to the people who live it before you build.
“Knowledge itself is power.”
Ipsa scientia potestas est.
Get a working version in front of people fast.
Using AI is not cheating. Every tool carries the work of the people who made it, and using it well is how knowledge has always moved forward. The thinking, the care for the people who live the problem, and the judgement are still yours.
“The Analytical Engine weaves algebraical patterns just as the Jacquard-loom weaves flowers and leaves.”
Open data that fits this problem.
“The first principle is that you must not fool yourself, and you are the easiest person to fool.”
Tools matched to what this problem needs.
“The things we have to learn before we can do them, we learn by doing them.”
Ship it responsibly, and find help and funding.
“Your right is to the work alone, never to its fruits.”
कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन
karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana
Kit written for this problem from its brief; every link was checked. Links go to each provider's own site. Zetema is not paid for any listing.