This year, GSK and Save the Children will give special attention to innovations that focus on the hardest-to-reach children
GSK and Save the Children have launched their fourth annual $1 million (Ksh100 million) Healthcare Innovation Award for innovations in healthcare that help to reduce child deaths in developing countries and have the potential to reach even more children.
Kenyan innovations have been recognised each year since the launch of the award. MicroClinic Technologies was awarded for its health management system in 2013 and its sister operation 2020 MicroClinic Initiative was recognised in 2015 for Operation Karibu a ‘welcome’ package for new mothers. In 2014, the University of Nairobi was awarded for their vaccination wellness card.
This year, until 7th September, Kenyan organisations can nominate innovative healthcare approaches. 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 under GSK and Save the Children’s five-year partnership to help save one million children’s lives. Since 2013, more than a dozen inventive approaches – from a breast milk pasteurisation device to an affordable diarrhoea treatment kit – have been recognised. 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.
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“When it comes to reaching the most vulnerable Kenyan children with quality healthcare, no single organisation has all the answers,” said Bridget Wachira, Managing Director, GSK Pharmaceuticals Kenya Limited. “So we’re always searching for new and different ideas, wherever they might be. 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.”
Ali Forder, Director of Programme, Policy and Quality at Save the Children, said marked progress has been made in recent years to reduce the number of children dying before their fifth birthday. Despite this progress, he notedm 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,” Forder said.
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