December 2018

Two Global Health Grand Challenge Innovators win 2018 Patents for Humanity Awards

Congratulations to our Global Health Grand Challenge innovators Kinnos and Little Sparrows Technologies for being two of nine recipients of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office "Patents for Humanity" awards. Kinnos, a Fighting Ebola Grand Challenge grantee, was recognized for its product Highlight, a colorized, powdered additive that is mixed into bleach at point-of-use to improve visualization and coverage during decontamination. Little Sparrows Technologies, a Saving Lives at Birth grantee, was recognized for its portable and battery-operable phototherapy device to treat jaundice. Read this Share America piece that features each innovation.

ATscale Partnership: Request for Information

USAID’s Bureau for Democracy, Conflict and Humanitarian Assistance and Bureau for Global Health’s Center for Innovation and Impact—in partnership with the U.K. development agency DFID (Department for International Development)—released a joint request for information (RFI) for ATscale this month. ATscale | the Global Partnership for Assistive Technology is a partnership with the goal of reaching 500 million people with life-changing assistive technology, (AT) such as wheelchairs, hearing aids and glasses, by 2030. The RFI seeks to learn from successful partnership and coordinating body models so that lessons can feed into the formal development of ATscale's coordinating mechanism.

Unlocking Private Capital for Global Health Innovation

CII co-hosted a workshop with the Byers Center for Biodesign, Center for Population Health Sciences, and Center for Innovation in Global Health at Stanford University called Unlocking Private Capital for Global Health Innovation–Designing an Innovator and Investor Support Facility. The workshop brought together 25 influential investors and innovators to test findings from a recent needs assessment diagnosing the barriers to unlocking private capital for global health innovation. In the coming months, we will release findings from the workshop to the broader community. Stay tuned.

Launch of USAID’s Private Sector Engagement Policy

USAID is undertaking a major cultural and operational transformation to expand Private Sector Engagement (PSE) Agency-wide. Through its new PSE Policy, USAID has issued an Agency-wide call to action and mandate to work hand-in-hand with the private sector to design and deliver our development and humanitarian programs in all sectors. This policy, influenced by CII’s work, signals an intentional shift towards enterprise-driven development as a more sustainable way to empower people, communities and countries on their journey to self-reliance. Learn more.