World Health Organization Recognizes Kinnos as Innovative Health Technology
World Health Organization Recognizes Kinnos as Innovative Health Technology
The WHO recognizes Kinnos’ Highlight® as an innovative technology for COVID and other health priorities in low-resource settings.
Kinnos’ flagship product, Highlight® for Bleach Wipes, colors the wipes hospitals everywhere use to disinfect surfaces and ensure patient safety. The bright blue color lets users see their work and is shown to quantifiably improve their thoroughness in cleaning. The color fades in approximately the same amount of time recommended for the surface to stay wet with bleach. By helping users visualize surface coverage, Highlight provides retraining that overcomes educational and language barriers with every wipe.
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The World Health Organization (WHO) has recognized Kinnos’ Highlight® bleach colorant as an innovative technology in their 2021 compendium, “WHO Compendium of Innovative Health Technologies for Low-Resource Settings.” The Compendium selects technologies with immediate or future impact on COVID-19 and general health outcomes and brings global healthcare awareness and procurement channels to such products. Highlight® for Liquid Bleach was selected for its ability to help providers “correctly use disinfection . . . thus reducing contamination and improving safety.”
Highlight colors the liquid bleach and disinfecting wipes that hospitals worldwide depend on to clean surfaces, letting users visualize disinfection coverage instantly. The color lends visibility, reinforces training, and then fades to remind users their disinfectant is still working. In more than one critical healthcare situation, it prevented use of incorrectly mixed or expired bleach products since its color fades only if healthcare-strength bleach is utilized.
WHO-assembled expert panels judged nominees on their superior ability over existing products to solve a substantial health problem in low-resource settings. In developing countries, healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) affect 1 out of every 10 hospital patients and 1 of every 3 surgeries. Better disinfection is a proven method to reduce the pain, mortality, and financial burdens of HAIs. The WHO noted that several peer-reviewed studies prove Highlight quantifiably improves disinfection technique.
“Effective infection prevention requires not just the disinfectant, but also technique in how those disinfectants are used,” said Jason Kang, Kinnos CEO and co-inventor. “Yet the status quo makes it virtually impossible to ensure thorough disinfection as it’s currently an invisible process – with transparent disinfectants, you can’t see what you’ve missed. We’re making that easier, in a way that transcends language barriers.”
“Our product was first developed to protect Ebola healthcare workers in West Africa, so this recognition by the World Health Organization really honors our origins and our passion for global health,” Kang pointed out.
Kinnos’ Highlight products are available internationally, and AMG Medical distributes in Canada while Armstrong Medical distributes to all US Veteran Agencies. Highlight for Bleach Wipes now gives hospitals the same ability to visualize coverage of ready-to-use disinfectant wipes, and the innovation will extend to other popular disinfectants next year.
About Kinnos
Kinnos pioneers color technology that revolutionizes how we use disinfectants. The company's flagship product, Highlight, is a patented and award-winning color additive platform that improves disinfection technique and compliance. Highlight's real-time color visualization has been reported in independent studies and whitepapers to consistently increase thoroughness of cleaning. Recognized by Harvard Innovations Lab, Forbes, Newsweek, USAID, the USPTO Humanity Award, and more, Highlight® is used internationally by hospitals, first responders, and transit agencies. Kinnos is headquartered in Brooklyn, NY. For more information, visit: www.kinnos.com
