GSK & Save the Children announce $1m Healthcare Innovation Award winners
Melanie May | 29 February 2016 | News
GSK and Save the Children have announced the recipients of their third annual $1 million Healthcare Innovation Award.
The award recognises innovations from developing countries that are helping to reduce deaths among children under five. This year, the award is shared by four innovations: a paperless immunisation records system in Vietnam won the largest share of the award, followed by a foil pouch for accurately giving HIV medicines to newborns in Ecuador; an integrated care package for mothers and newborns in Kenya; and a tool for better understanding child deaths in South Africa.
The award is a major initiative of GSK and Save the Children’s five-year partnership, through which the two organisations are combining their resources, voice and expertise with the aim of saving one million children’s lives. Since the partnership launched in 2013, the awards have recognised more than a dozen projects.
PATH, Vietnam received $400,000 for Immreg, a system which gives health workers in the Ben Tre province a computer or smartphone to monitor vaccine stocks; register pregnant women and newborns; track the vaccines they have received, and remind mothers via text to get vaccinations for them or their child.
Fundación VIHDA, Ecuador received $226,600 for the ‘Pratt Pouch’: a foil pouch similar to a fast-food ketchup sachet that helps mothers give accurate doses of HIV medicines to their newborns.
2020 MicroClinic Initiative, Kenya (pictured) received $176,600 for Operation Karibu: its ‘welcome programme’ of care for new mothers, which encourages pregnant women to seek medical care before, during and after birth to improve newborn survival rates.
SA MRC Maternal and Infant Health Care, South Africa received $176,600 for ‘Child PIP’, an audit tool for the review of infant and child deaths in South African hospitals that helps local healthcare teams understand the causes of child mortality in their area and improve care.
Lisa Bonadonna, head of the GSK-Save the Children partnership, said:
“When we embarked on our partnership – and the Healthcare Innovation Award – we set out to identify brilliant ideas, born in developing countries, which are helping to save children’s lives. These latest inspiring innovations are strengthening healthcare systems and improving access to healthcare for mothers and children in some of the most underserved communities. We look forward to seeing them scale up and share their ideas, as previous winners have already gone on to do.”
More information on the partnership, the award, and criteria for entry can be found here: http://www.gsk.com/en-gb/about-us/corporate-partnerships/save-the-children-partnership/#past-healthcare-innovation-award-winners
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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.