PATH Vietnam wins share of global $1 million Healthcare Innovation Award

Rather than handwriting records, which can be time-consuming and prone to error, health workers in the Mekong delta province of Ben Tre now use a computer or smart phone to monitor vaccine stocks; register pregnant women and newborns; and track what vaccines they have received.

They can also remind pregnant women and mothers via text message to get vaccinations for them and their child.

Immreg is one of four initiatives to have won a share of the third annual GSK and Save the Children Healthcare Innovation Award (HIA).

The initiative was highlighted at a roundtable discussion held yesterday with stakeholders and policy makers convened by GSK and Save the Children, to discuss the impact of the award on health innovation trends in Vietnam.

According to Nguyen Tuyet Nga, PATH Vietnam programme team leader, Immreg has cut the time it takes to generate monthly lists of children due for vaccination from one to two days to just 5-30 minutes.

Notably, rates of full immunisation in the first year of life increased from 74.3 to 77.8 per cent during a one-year pilot and the on-time vaccination rate improved between 10 to 14 per cent.

As well as recognising innovations that help reduce child deaths, this year’s award adopted a special focus on strengthening health systems and recognised innovations that have been proven to help increase access to public healthcare for pregnant women, mothers and children under five.

James Strenner, general manager, GSK Vietnam said, “To bring life-saving healthcare to the most vulnerable in our communities, there is a clear need for innovative partnership and breakthrough ideas, and more importantly the sustainability and expansion capability of these innovations. As a global healthcare company, GlaxoSmithKline is delighted that this award to PATH, the largest share of the third HIA, demonstrates that Vietnam is a hub for innovation and highlights the vital work being done to help save children’s lives.”

GSK is one of the world’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and healthcare companies.

“Immreg is an innovative intervention that has the potential to save the lives of many children and babies and is a great example of a sustainable programme that addresses critical health issues. We are very pleased that through the recognition and funding from the Healthcare Innovation Award, Immreg can be expanded and replicated to protect even more vulnerable children,” said Gunnar Andersen, country director, non-profit organisation Save the Children Vietnam.

In 2013, GSK and Save the Children launched the first $1 million Healthcare Innovation Award to identify and reward innovations that have proven successful in reducing child deaths in developing countries.

The Healthcare Innovation Award is a great example of how innovation is a crucial part of the GSK and Save the Children partnership, through which the two organisations are combining their resources, voice and expertise to help save one million children’s lives.

The partnership has sought to identify innovations that are making a tangible difference to children’s health, and enable them to share and replicate their approach, through the award.