GSK and Save the Children initiate healthcare innovation award

Accra, Aug. 22, GNA - GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals (GSK) and Save the Children Foundation have launched their fourth annual Healthcare Innovation Award.

Nominations for the $ 1 million award, which is to reward innovations in healthcare and also to reduce child deaths in developing countries, and with the potential to reach even more children is opened till September 7.

A release issued in Accra on Monday said the two organisations could nominate innovative healthcare approaches they have implemented, which resulted in tangible improvements to under-five child survival, sustainable and have the scope to be scaled-up and replicated.

The Award is one of a number of initiatives from GSK and Save the Children's five-year partnership, which combines the two organisation's expertise and skills with the aim to help save one million children's lives.

According to the release, since 2013, more than a dozen inventive approaches - from a breast milk pasteurisation device to an affordable diarrhea treatment kit - have been recognised through the Award.

General Manager for GSK in Ghana, Mark Pfister, said: 'When it comes to reaching the most vulnerable Ghanaian children with quality healthcare, no single organisation has all the answers. So we're always searching for new and different ideas, wherever they might be.'

'Our Award recognises that some of the best solutions to development challenges come from people living with them. 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,' he noted.

Outlining the focus of this year's Award, the Director of Programme, Policy and Quality at Save the Children, Ali Forder said progress has been made in the campaign to save more children from child death but there are more children they seek to reach out to.

'Extraordinary progress has been made in recent years to reduce the number of children dying before their fifth birthday.

'Despite this progress, 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,' he stated.

According to the release, a judging panel, made up of experts from the fields of public health, science and academia, would award all or part of the funds to one or more of the best healthcare innovations.

Interested participants should log on for further details on the judging process and criteria online at www.healthcareinnovationaward.org

Entries close on 7 September 2016 at 11:59pm (GMT), with winners being expected to be announced in December.

GSK, one of the world's leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies - is committed to improving the quality of human life by enabling people to do more, feel better and live longer. For further information please visit www.gsk.com.

Save the Children - an international non-governmental organisation that believes every child deserves a future. In the UK and around the world, we give children a healthy start in life, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm. We do whatever it takes for children - every day and in times of crisis - transforming their lives and the future we share. For further information please visit www.savethechildren.org.uk.

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). Countries classified as 'high income' by the World Bank or that are in the European Union are not eligible (http://europa.eu/about-eu/countries/index_en.htm).

2) Describe an innovative approach or process applied to under-5 child survival that can demonstrate impact within an eligible country.

About the Healthcare Innovation Award
The Healthcare Innovation Award was announced following the launch of GSK and Save the Children's innovative partnership in May 2013, which is tackling the ambitious goal of helping save the lives of one million children in some of the world's most vulnerable 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.

In 2013, a device that eases the breathing of babies in respiratory distress which was awarded the highest share of the Healthcare Innovation Award prize fund.

It was developed by the College of Medicine/Friends of Sick Children, Malawi and Rice 360° Institute for Global Health Technologies.

Commenting on the impact of the Award, Professor Elizabeth Molyneux, Professor of Pediatrics at the College of Medicine and Queen Elizabeth Central Teaching Hospital, Blantyre, Malawi, said: 'It was exciting to win the Award, which has allowed us to provide technology and training in teaching hospitals in Tanzania, Zambia and South Africa.'

Funding from GSK and others shows confidence in what we are offering and gives us a chance to share with people who will benefit from it.' GNA