Research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare company GSK and non-governmental organisation Save the Children have launched their third annual $1 million Healthcare Innovation Award that rewards innovations in healthcare that have helped to reduce child deaths in developing countries.
From the 15 July to 7 September 2015, organisations from across developing countries can nominate examples of innovative health approaches they have implemented. These approaches must have resulted in tangible improvements to under-five child survival rates, be sustainable and have the potential to be scaled-up and replicated.
The organisations say with millions of people still lacking access to basic healthcare, this year, there will be a special focus on innovations that aim to strengthen developing country health systems and have proven to help increase access to public healthcare for pregnant women, mothers and children under five.
They believe the recent Ebola epidemic was one example of the need for new solutions and approaches to address the systemic challenges that weaken healthcare systems. According to the World Health Organisation, since late 2013 when this epidemic began, there have been 27 600 Ebola cases, including more than 11 000 deaths.
"Robust healthcare systems are the backbone of thriving communities but too many countries still lack the trained health workers and facilities they need to manage everyday health challenges, let alone crises like the catastrophic outbreak of Ebola," says Ramil Burden, vice-president for Africa and Developing Countries at GSK.
"Through this year's award, we hope to identify and support those innovations that are most effectively helping to strengthen health systems so that mothers and children are better able to access the care they need, when they need it."
Last year's top prize was awarded jointly to the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in SA and ColaLife in Zambia.
UKZN developed a project to promote life-saving breast feeding for vulnerable premature babies including a mobile phone app to aid the safe pasteurisation and storage of donated human breast milk.
ColaLife's project adapted the supply chains used to get soft drinks and other consumer goods to remote areas to deliver a specially tailored diarrhoea treatment kit for infants. Both organisations were awarded $350 000 to take their work forward.
While good progress has been made in recent years, every year more than 6 million children worldwide still die 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.
To enter, nominees must be from a country classified as 'low', 'lower-middle', or 'upper-middle' income by the World Bank. Countries classified as 'high income' by the World Bank or that are in the European Union are not eligible.
They should also describe an innovative approach or process applied to under-five child survival that can demonstrate impact within an eligible country.
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