GSK Offers $1 Million Award for Healthcare Innovations

GSK and Save the Children have announced the second annual $1 million Healthcare Innovation Award, which was established to identify and reward innovations in healthcare that have proven successful in reducing child deaths in developing countries.

Organizations 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. Special 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 kit, which demonstrates the impact of simple, low-cost innovations.

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 organizations to showcase their innovations and share information with others interested in improving healthcare for children in some of the world’s poorest countries.

Recognizing that innovation can take many shapes and forms, the criteria for the Healthcare Innovation Award are broad and can include approaches that focus on any aspect of healthcare, including science, nutrition, research, education or partnership working.

Further details on the judging process and criteria can be found at http://myg.sk/HeathcareInnovationAward.  Entries close on Aug. 25 at 11:59 pm (GMT). Winners will be announced in December 2014.

Source: GSK