Canada is committed to leveraging innovative approaches, partnerships and financing to deliver on its top development priority: saving and improving the lives of women, newborns and children in developing countries.
To this end, Canada will contribute $161 million toward Grand Challenges Canada’s Innovation Platform for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.
This initiative will develop and test promising innovations by Canadian and developing-country innovators to improve the health and well-being of poor women, newborns and children under the age of five in low- and middle-income countries.
The innovation platform is centred on three programs:
- Saving Lives at Birth, which seeks to improve maternal and newborn survival and reduce stillbirths;
- Saving Brains, which promotes physical and cognitive development; and
- MNCH Stars in Global Health, which is used to source bold ideas whereby the innovator defines the health challenge and the innovative solution.
The Innovation Platform for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health is part of Canada’s $3.5-billion commitment to improve the health of mothers, newborns and children around the world announced by Prime Minister Stephen Harper at the Saving Every Woman, Every Child: Within Arm’s Reach summit in Toronto in May 2014. The initiative is aligned with Canada’s maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) strategy for 2015–2020, which is focused on strengthening health systems, reducing the burden of disease, improving nutrition, and ensuring accountability for results.
The initiative is expected to contribute to the reduction of maternal and child mortality and morbidity in low- and middle-income countries. It will also focus on improving access to innovative health products and services.
This initiative with Grand Challenges Canada will continue to position Canada as a global leader in MNCH and a firm supporter of breakthrough solutions through innovation, and leveraging expertise from public, private and civil society sectors.
