Grand Challenges Canada, Toronto
29 April, 2013
59 creative, out-of-box health innovations devised in 13 low- and middle-income countries, plus 43 from Canada, share $10.9 million in seed grants and a single goal: Reduce debilitating disease, save lives in developing countries
Grand Challenges Canada, which is funded by the Government of Canada, today announced 102 new grants of $100,000 each for bold new global health ideas. Of these, 59 grants went to innovators in 13 low- and middle-income nations worldwide to pursue bold new imaginative ideas to tackle health problems in resource-poor countries.
Grants of $100,000 each were also announced for 43 Canadian-originated projects to be implemented in a total of 49 countries throughout the developing world.
The full global portfolio of 102 creative, out-of-the-box ideas, selected by independent peer review from 436 applications, include:
- An instant test strip to diagnose deadly diseases like Ebola and dengue à la litmus paper
- A vaccine for smokers against nicotine’s addictive effect
- A glucose meter cell phone attachment for diabetics
- A tool kit to save newborn lives
- Engineering gut microbiome bacteria to defend against waterborne diseases like cholera and thyphoid
- Teaching old drugs new tricks in the fight against HIV
- Saving mothers and children with affordable, needle-free anemia-screening
- Using mobile phones to monitor maternal and child health in rural Nepal
- * A fast track to safer pesticides via super-computer
- Tapping local businesses in Tanzania: Malaria drugs on wheels
- Reading ultrasound images of rural patients via cyberspace
- …and many others.
News release in full: click here
Sample coverage: Toronto Star, click here, Vancouver Sun, click here, CBC, click here, Daily Mail (UK / India), click here
Coverage summary: click here