The Healthcare Innovation Award contributes to an ambitious
partnership between GSK and Save the Children, which aims to save the
lives of a million of the world’s poorest children
GSK and Save the Children today announced the launch of their second
annual $1 million Healthcare Innovation Award at the Partnership for
Maternal, Newborn and Child Health meeting in South Africa. The award
was established to identify and reward innovations in healthcare that
have proven successful in reducing child deaths in developing countries.
From the 27 June – 25 August, organisations from across the
developing world can nominate examples of innovative healthcare
approaches they have discovered or implemented. These approaches must
have resulted in tangible improvements to under-5 child survival rates,
be sustainable and have the potential to be scaled-up and replicated.
This year, special interest and attention will be given to work that
aims to increase the quality of, or access to, healthcare for newborns.
Last year the top prize was awarded to Friends of Sick Children
(FOSC), Malawi, for their ‘bubble’ Continuous Positive Airway Pressure
(CPAP) kit, which demonstrates the impact of simple, low-cost
innovations. The ‘bubble’ helps babies that are in respiratory distress,
often caused by acute infections like pneumonia, by keeping their lungs
inflated so they can breathe more easily. A similar version is already
commonly used in developed countries where they cost at least $6,000
each. This innovative low-cost ‘bubble’ CPAP adaptation can be produced
for approximately $400.
FOSC was granted an award of $400,000, which along with backing from
the Ministry of Health in Malawi, will enable them and their partners to
share this life-saving technology with teaching hospitals in Tanzania,
Zambia and South Africa.
Co-chaired by Sir Andrew Witty, CEO of GSK, and Justin Forsyth, CEO
of Save the Children, a judging panel, made up of experts from the
fields of public health, science and academia, will award part of the
overall funds to the best healthcare innovation to support further
progress. The remaining funds will be made available for runners-up
awards as directed by the judging panel.
The award also aims to provide a platform for winning organisations
to showcase their innovations and share information with others
interested in improving healthcare for children in some of the world’s
poorest countries.
Nominations must:
1) Be from a country classified as ‘low’, ‘lower-middle’, or
‘upper-middle’ income by the World Bank
(http://data.worldbank.org/country), and not be from the European Union
(http://europa.eu/about-eu/countries/index_en.htm). Countries classified
as ‘high income’ by the World Bank or that are in the European Union
are not eligible
2) Come from an organisation based in an eligible country, with an
innovation used for the benefit of the people in an eligible country
