GSK & Save the Children announce $1m Healthcare Innovation Award winners
Melanie May | 9 June 2017 | News
GSK and Save the Children have awarded their $1m Healthcare Innovation Award to four new approaches to reducing deaths in the under-fives.
The award is part of a five-year partnership between GSK and Save the Children, which launched in 2013 and aims to help to save one million children’s lives. The award identifies innovations making a tangible difference to children’s health, and enables organisations to share and replicate their approach. Since 2013, 17 inventive approaches have been recognised.
This year, the award focused on innovations providing healthcare for the hardest-to-reach mothers and children. Four winners were selected from 171 submissions across 30 countries.
The Association for Humanitarian Development (AHD) in Pakistan won the largest share of the Award ($320,000) for their inexpensive water filter unit. The unit is sourced and constructed locally from mud pots, costs US$10-15, and removes 98%-100% of biological contamination.
Sinergias (pictured) in Colombia won $250,000 for a cross-cultural healthcare delivery model for indigenous populations in the Amazon region, ARMMAN in India won $115,000 for their free mobile voice call service providing preventative care information to mothers, and Alma Sana in Nigeria won $100,000 for their simple, low-cost bracelet that stimulates parents’ uptake and demand for children’s immunisations in Nigeria.
The remainder of the prize fund has set aside for providing the winners with consultative support to help them take their programme to scale, with $25,000 also set aside for the Employee Choice Award, which will be selected by GSK and Save the Children employees.
Andy Wright, VP Global Health Programmes, GSK said:
“Millions of children are being left behind because they live in remote areas. This year’s Healthcare Innovation Award recognises interventions that are supporting mothers and children in some of the world’s most marginalised communities. The award will enable the 2017 winners to expand their operations in these neglected areas and help save more children’s lives.”
Ali Forder, director of programme quality & impact, Save the Children UK added:
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“The Healthcare Innovation Award was specifically designed with the understanding that those closest to a complex problem are best placed to design solutions to solve them. These innovations are already delivering clean drinking water, pre and post-natal care and vaccination reminders for the world’s most vulnerable children. In Colombia, Sinergias is supporting families who may only be accessible by plane or boat, making them the winner of our Hardest-to-Reach award.
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About Melanie May
Melanie May is a journalist and copywriter specialising in writing both for and about the charity and marketing services sectors since 2001. She can be reached via thepurplepim.com.