There has been noteworthy progress in reducing maternal and child mortality in the past decade but still, the maternal and infant mortality rates in India continue to remain unacceptably high. Limited availability and accessibility of tools and services for timely identification and treatment of underlying health conditions lead to a staggering number of women with poor pregnancy and delivery outcomes and low survival rates in newborns and small children.
Saksham Aavishkar is a USAID-funded MNCH accelerator initiative that aims to support the government through new approaches, including harnessing innovations, to boost the implementation of high-impact interventions for improving maternal, newborn, and child health outcomes through a continuum of care approach.
Saksham Aavishkar MNCH challenge compendium
View PDFThe vision
Technology and innovation show promise in addressing the gaps in the MNCH continuum of care. However, promising innovations can get stuck at different stages of their commercialization life cycle. In these cases, they need support in implementation, market access, and adoption by health systems.
Our vision through this challenge is to accelerate the deployment of innovative technological solutions across the MNCH continuum of care with a user-centric approach.
PATH will leverage the capabilities of its Impact Lab and the partner consortium to bring together innovators and stakeholders including the government, health agencies, and health care providers to introduce transformative solutions in the MNCH space.
Focus areas
* Identification, screening, diagnosis, and management of high-risk pregnancies or other associated conditions with pregnant women
* Screening, diagnostic, preventive, and treatment solutions for anemia.
* Innovations for sick newborns, developmental delays, and other ailments or deficiencies in small children
* Any other technology that enhances overall MNCH care, for example by bridging an existing gap, reducing cost, strengthening capacities, and more
Selection criteria
* The program is for enterprises (Indian or global) including for profit or not-for-profit organizations and individual innovators.
* Innovations in medical devices, in vitro diagnostics, and digital health that address at least one of the program focus areas.
* Innovations should have reached TRL 7 or beyond (where TRL defines the Technology Readiness Level). At TRL 7, the actual system prototype is near completion or ready and has been demonstrated at the pilot level in a controlled/operational environment. At TRL 8, the technology is proven, developed, and validated in clinical/community settings. At TRL 9, the technology has been applied in its final form and is operational with requisite regulatory approvals.
* The applications will be assessed based on validation data, economic effectiveness, feasibility, scalability, and real-life impact.
Offerings
* Showcase the compendium of selected innovations to key national and state-level stakeholders and through the consortium’s network.
* Facilitate advisory support from domain experts in the public and private sectors, including public health experts in the MNCH space, technology and innovation experts, on product design improvements, usability and feasibility analysis, and go-to-market approach.
* Selected innovations will be reviewed and recommended by the National Technical Advisory Group-MNCH.
The applicant will be required to submit an online application following registration. Only the applications submitted online will be accepted for further evaluation. No e-mail or hard copy applications will be entertained.
Application closes at 12:00am IST on Dec 20, 2022.
All applications will be screened for eligibility checks and appropriateness for further evaluation of the application.
Communication to shortlisted applicants for in-person presentation.
Shortlisted applicants to showcase their final presentation and pitch to an expert panel.
Winners will be announced.
Saksham project partners
Aavishkar partners
Winners
Please read the terms and conditions here. For any queries, write to us at saksham@path.org
Project Saksham
The project works with the national and state health systems to demonstrate best practices for developing and scaling interventions that can address key MNCH gaps and improve access to quality MNCH services. The project is currently implemented in three states in India: Assam, Odisha and Chhattisgarh.