Working towards global equality in newborn care.

Our mission

We want every baby, in every setting to have best start in life.

​Picterus Newborn Health is a non-profit dedicated to working towards a world where all newborns receive equal access to quality healthcare.

What we want to address

Jaundice in Newborns

Jaundice affects 60–80% of newborns globally. Among these, 10% develop severe neonatal jaundice, medically known as Hyperbilirubinemia.

Every year approximately
1.1 million newborns,
mostly concentrated in low-resource settings develop severe hyperbilirubinemia due to the lack of accessible jaundice screening solutions.

When jaundice is left undetected and untreated, it can lead to severe and irreversible health complications, including:


Acute bilirubin encephalopathy (ABE):
A critical condition where elevated bilirubin levels cross into the newborn's brain. Immediate treatment is essential to prevent lasting damage.

Kernicterus: A lifelong syndrome caused by untreated ABE, leading to permanent neurological damage. This may manifest as auditory deficits, cerebral palsy, or epilepsy.

The urgency

While kernicterus is entirely preventable, it is impossible to cure.

Ensuring early detection and treatment of jaundice is key to safeguarding the health and future of newborns worldwide.

Our mission

Local Communities / Partner Network / Government Collaboration

We are a small team of dedicated and passionate individuals with a goal to make jaundice screening and care easily accessible to newborns worldwide.

We do not limit ourselves to a particular country or region, and we understand that in order to make a difference and provide lasting change it’s incredibly important that we work together with local authorities, partners and communities to provide a tailored approach to each project.

Thanks to the collaboration between our valued in-country partners, we are able to help more families and newborns and move closer toward our goal of giving every baby the best start in life.

Photo credit: Dr. Jennifer Harling, Kibuye Hope Hospital, Burundi

Who we want to help

Our focus is on low resources settings and making sure jaundice screening and care is readily avaliable

Video credit: Dr. Jennifer Harling, Kibuye Hope Hospital, Burundi.

Picterus Testimonial Beatrice Odongkara
Dr Beatrice Odongkara MD, PhD Uganda

Revolutionizing newborn health with innovation

”Did you know neonatal jaundice is a silent yet critical threat to newborns, especially in low-resource settings? If left untreated, it can lead to kernicterus – a devastating and preventable condition that causes lifelong brain damage.

Fortunately, Picterus Jaundice Pro is changing this narrative in Gulu! This innovative mobile app equips healthcare professionals with a low-cost, accurate, and accessible tool for early jaundice detection. We can prevent complications, protect newborn health, and reduce the risk of severe outcomes with timely screening. But that’s not all! Picterus Jaundice Pro also enables parents to screen their babies from home, allowing for early detection before visiting a healthcare facility. This groundbreaking approach:

  • Saves lives through early intervention
  • Reduces delays in accessing care
  • Eases the burden on over-stretched healthcare systems

A heartfelt thank you to our generous donors. Your support is introducing life-saving technology to Gulu and empowering families and healthcare workers. Together, we are creating a brighter and healthier future for newborns in Gulu and beyond!”

“Neonatal jaundice affects many newborns and, if left untreated, can cause permanent neurological damage. Innovative screening tools which are easy to use even in rural communities like Picterus are very crucial for early detection hence ensuring timely treatment, preventing serious complications. Tanzania Better Health is delighted to partner with Picterus joining forces integrating this jaundice screening technology for better health outcomes for newborns.”

Picterus Testimonial Leonard Malasa
Dr. Leonard J. Malasa

Founder and CEO, Tanzania Better Health, Tanzania

“I have been practicing midwifery for nearly 40 years and had the opportunity to work in many different countries around the globe. Neonatal jaundice is a common challenge for all babies regardless of the place they were born. The app gave me an additional reliable result to support my clinical judgment when I was working in Germany. It was easy to teach the parents to use the app as well and to call me with the result. This helped me in managing the high work. I would like to see the App soon in many underserved countries because, with no access to laboratories, any other TCB technology and often untrained personnel in post-natal care, this easy-to-use app can save many lives.”

Picterus Testimonial Sandra
Sandra Sedlmaier Ouattara

Global Sexual and Reproductive Health Consultant - New Zealand

How we have impact

Jaundice Screening
Community and Parent Jaundice Awareness Education 
Healthcare Professional Training and Jaundice Education

Our projects

Location: Tanzania, Monduli.
Partner: Tanzania Better Health (TBH)
Helping a comunity in the Arusha region

Our Goal: To offer  jaundice screening during scheduled mobile health clinic visits to the local community, giving healthcare professionals and parents clear and immediate results on whether their newborn is showing signs of jaundice. The project will also provide phototherapy treatment for those newborns who need followup treatment: In collaboration with our local partners TBH, we will deploy our first outreach project serving the Monduli community.

Photo credit: Dr. Leonard J. Malasa, Tanzania Better Heath, Tanzania.

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