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MARCH 2017
FEATURE
USAID AND GATES FOUNDATION LAUNCH NEW SUPPLY CHAIN GRAND CHALLENGE
On March 7th, the U.S. Agency for International Development's (USAID's) Office of Population and Reproductive Health (PRH) and the Center for Accelerating Innovation and Impact (CII) launched a new Grand Challenge for Development in partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, called Ensuring Effective Health Supply Chains. This Grand Challenge is a call for innovative and transformative solutions to build more effective supply chains in low- and middle-income countries around the world. Learn more about the Grand Challenge.
INNOVATION
Rice University, a grantee of Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge for Development, was named 1 of 8 semifinalists in the MacArthur 100&Change Program, which will award a $100 million grant to the final winner. Rice University received multiple awards from Saving Lives at Birth, including a Transition-to-Scale award for the Pumani bCPAP, a low-cost respiratory support device to reduce early neonatal death.
ANNOUNCEMENTS
On February 28th, UNICEF's Supply Division in Copenhagen issued a press release [PDF, 199KB] announcing USAID's $10 million investment to enable UNICEF to create an Advance Purchase Commitment (APC). CII worked closely with UNICEF to develop this APC, which guarantees the purchase of successfully developed Zika diagnostics, thus lowering the risk of investing in the development of this critical product.
SCALING
Check out this month's edition of USAID FrontLines, featuring our work under the leadership of the Nigerian Federal Ministry of Health, alongside USAID/Nigeria and other partners such as the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) and the USAID Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP), to develop Nigeria's national strategy and implementation plan for the scale-up of chlorhexidine [PDF, 1.8MB]. Over a 5-year implementation period, the strategy is expected to save 55,000 newborn lives.
INNOVATIONS
On February 27th, Kinnos closed its $1 million seed round funding to drive product development and sales of its flagship product, Highlight. Kinnos developed Highlight, a colorized additive for disinfectants that greatly improves visibility, coverage, and end-user compliance, through support from Fighting Ebola: A Grand Challenge for Development.
EVENTS
March 21 – March 22, 2017
Humanitarian ICT Forum
Google Headquarters, Mountain View, CA
March 25 – March 26, 2017
Social Enterprise Conference
Harvard University, Cambridge, MA
March 27 – March 30, 2017
Institutionalizing Community Health Conference
Johannesburg, South Africa
April 7 – April 9, 2017
8th Annual CUGH Conference
Johns Hopkins University and Makerere University
WHAT WE'RE READING
McKinsey, Ashoka
Taking Off: A Hybrid Investment Fund to Unlock the Growth Potential of Social Enterprises in Germany [PDF, 6.4MB]
Harvard Business Review
Even Life-saving Innovations Don't Sell Themselves
Center for Strategic and International Studies
Promoting Accountability in Nigeria's Health System
The Lancet
Evidence for Underuse of Effective Medical Services around the World
Broadband Commission
Digital Health: A Call for Government Leadership and Cooperation between ICT and Health [PDF, 8.2MB]
Access to Medicine Foundation
Access to Vaccines Index 2017
Creative Mornings
5 Talks on Empathy that Will Change How You Connect and Create
USAID and Johns Hopkins Center for Communication Programs
Social Mobilization Lessons Learned: The Ebola Response in Liberia [PDF, 13.4MB]
CII NEWS
The New York Times
MacArthur Foundation Picks Eight Projects that Could Change the World
February 15, 2017
University of Liverpool featuring Project OPTIMIZE supported by CII
New Nano Approach Could Cut Dose of Leading HIV Treatment in Half
February 17, 2017
Ebola Grantee Jhpiego
A New Suit Makes Its Congressional Debut
March 13, 2017
BID Initiative Featuring CII's Ready, Set, Launch Guide
Scaling Country-level Global Health Innovations
February 15, 2017
NEWS
The Washington Post
Yellow Fever Outbreak in Brazil Worries U.S. Officials
March 8, 2017
Aspen Management Partnership for Health
New Positions Available at AMP Health, including Regional Head and Management Partner of Malawi
March 3, 2017
Quartz
A New Genetic Tool Maps How Deadly Viruses Spread around the World in Real Time
February 28, 2017
Fortune
The WHO Says These 12 Deadly Superbugs Pose the Greatest Health Threats to Humans
February 27, 2017
Time
Liberian Ebola Fighter, a TIME Person of the Year, Dies in Childbirth
February 27, 2017
Nature
Ebola Funding Surge Hides Falling Investment in Other Neglected Diseases
February 16, 2017
Geek Wire
Melinda Gates on the Importance (and Lack) of Big Data in Global Health
February 11, 2017
The Guardian
Ambitious Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to Combat Disease Is about to Be Tested
February 8, 2017
STAFF SPOTLIGHT
PRIYA SHARMA: POLICY & INNOVATIVE FINANCING ADVISOR
"I love being able to apply economic and business principles and solutions to solve the lack of market incentives in global health R&D. The results can be game-changing in terms of health impact"
Read the full interview [PDF, 275KB]
Photo credits: Dalberg Design Impact Group, James Gathany/U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention via Associated Press, Rice University, http://www.ebolagrandchallenge.net.
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