The vitamin and medication dispenser was shaped by Nectar Design.

Children in poorer countries often don't get the proper dosage of medicine or vitamins because most pills don't come in small or extra small. Workers at the Releef Initiative (releef.org), an international nonprofit network, say breaking pills in half often wastes medication. The organization's response is a tiny, coated medicinal bead, about 0.5 to 1-mm diameter, which can be easily mixed with food or water and administered to children with meals.

To dispense them, firm Nectar Design, Long Beach, Calif., (nectardesign.com) has conceived a device that will let healthcare workers simply select one of five settings with the front top dial, and then press the button at the top to release the right number of drug pellets into the child's food. A clinic would have a Releef dispenser for each type of medication and vitamin.

All licenses for the dispenser are being donated to Releef, which funds manufacturing partially through its ownership of intellectual property. Nectar Design is working pro bono on the design. It is seeking production funding from the Gates Foundation.