GSK and Save the Children launched their fourth annual $1 million Healthcare Innovation Award, which rewards innovations in healthcare that help to reduce child deaths in developing countries and have the potential to reach even more children.
From the 7 July – 7 September 2016, organisations from across developing countries can nominate innovative healthcare approaches they have implemented. These innovations must have resulted in tangible improvements to under-5 child survival, be sustainable and have the scope to be scaled-up and replicated.
The Award is one of a number of initiatives from GSK and Save the Children’s five-year strategic partnership, which combines the two organisations’ expertise and skills with the aim to help save one million children’s lives. Since 2013, more than a dozen inventive approaches – from a paperless immunisation records system to an affordable diarrhoea treatment kit – have been recognised through the Award. This year, as well as recognising approaches that have helped reduce child deaths, the Award will give special attention to innovations that focus on the hardest-to-reach children.
Outlining the focus of this year’s Award, Ali Forder, Director of Programme, Policy and Quality at Save the Children, said, “Extraordinary progress has been made in recent years to reduce the number of children dying before their fifth birthday. Despite this progress, more than five million children still die each year and millions of children are being left behind because of their gender, poverty, or ethnic identity; because they live in remote areas or urban slums; or because they are caught up in conflicts. We want to seek out and recognise ways in which these children can be reached.”
Lisa Bonadonna, head of the GSK and Save the Children partnership, added, “When it comes to reaching the poorest children with quality healthcare, no single organisation has all the answers. So we’re always searching for new and different ideas, wherever they might be. Our Award recognises that some of the best solutions to development challenges come from people living with them. Tough conditions can stimulate innovation, generating solutions that are relevant and adaptable. If these bright ideas can be shared across countries and continents, the impact could be profound.”
In 2013, a device that eases the breathing of babies in respiratory distress was awarded the highest share of the Healthcare Innovation Award prize fund. It was developed by the College of Medicine/Friends of Sick Children, Malawi and Rice 360°: Institute for Global Health Technologies. Commenting on the impact of the Award, Professor Elizabeth Molyneux, professor of paediatrics at the College of Medicine and Queen Elizabeth Central Teaching Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi, said, “It was exciting to win the Award, which has allowed us to provide technology and training in teaching hospitals in Tanzania, Zambia and South Africa. Funding from GSK and others shows confidence in what we are offering and gives us a chance to share with people who will benefit from it.”
A judging panel, made up of experts from the fields of public health, science and academia, will award all or part of the funds to one or more of the best healthcare innovations. Winners are expected to be announced in December.
The Healthcare Innovation Award was announced following the launch of GSK and Save the Children’s innovative partnership in May 2013, which is tackling the ambitious goal of helping save the lives of one million children in some of the world’s most vulnerable communities. One of the unique aspects of this shared value partnership is the focus on working together to maximise innovations to tackle under-5 child mortality. For example, Save the Children has a seat on a paediatric R&D board, which includes representation from other independent experts as well as GSK. The board provides insight and research on child health that shapes GSK’s R&D efforts through the partnership.
While good progress has been made in recent years, in 2015, more than 5 million children died before their fifth birthday. Often these children are in the most remote and marginalised communities. The GSK and Save the Children Healthcare Innovation Award aims to discover and encourage replication of the best and most innovative examples of healthcare to have the biggest impact for vulnerable children.
The top prize in 2015’s Healthcare Innovation Award was granted to PATH in Vietnam for Immreg, a system which brings immunisation records into the digital age. Rather than handwriting records, which can be time-consuming and prone to error, health workers in the Ben Tre province now use a computer or smart phone to monitor vaccine stocks; register pregnant women and newborns; and track what vaccines they have received. They can also remind mothers via text message to get vaccinations for them or their child. PATH was awarded $400,000 to take forward their work. They plan to expand Immreg to an additional province in Vietnam and also adapt the system to tackle child malnutrition.
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