Alma Sana, a health organisation in Nigeria is among the four health organisations from developing countries to receive the Healthcare Innovation Award from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and Save the Children for its innovation that reduce mortality among children under five.
Selected from 171 submissions from 30 countries by a judging panel comprising health experts from across the globe, Alma Sana, Nigeria won $100,000 for stimulating parents’ uptake and demand for their children’s immunizations, one of the world’s most powerful tools for reducing under-five mortality and morbidity, through the practice of the child wearing a simple, bracelet. The bracelets empower mothers by presenting them with a constant and visual reminder of their baby’s vaccination schedules through symbols embedded in the bracelet, turning their babies’ ‘jewellery’ into a vaccine calendar and check-list. The bracelets were designed with input from mothers and nurses, are waterproof, durable, baby-safe, and intended for parents living on US$1.25 or less a day. As the bracelet’s immunisation reminders are represented through symbols and numbers and not words, this different kind of ‘wearable technology’ is suitable for literate and non-literate parents alike.
Other winners are;
- Association for Humanitarian Development (AHD) in Pakistanfor their inexpensive and versatile water filter unit, which won the largest share of the Award
- Sinergias in Colombia, the Hardest-to-Reach award winner for a cross-cultural healthcare delivery model for indigenous populations in the Amazon region
- ARMMAN in India for their free mobile voice call service providing preventative care information to mothers
