Bangladesh has achieved substantial progress in the health sector in spite of many challenges such as widespread poverty and frequent natural disasters, said Michael McGrath, country director of Save the Children on Tuesday. The country director was addressing the “GSK and Save the Children Healthcare Innovation Award” at the conference room of BRAC Inn in the city, jointly organised by GSK and Save the Children.
“The Award is the first initiative delivered as part of ambitious partnership between GSK and Save the Children that aims to save a million children’s lives. BRAC is one of five organisations from a list of nearly 100 applications from 29 countries across the developing world to share the award.
BRAC will receive $300,000 to pilot test its programme called Manoshi in the slums of Freetown, Sierra Leone, where under-five and maternal mortality rates are amongst the highest in the world,” Michael McGrath said.
“We are inspiring the developing country’s NGOs by offering many initiatives and projects so that they can play a significant role in the improvement of their own country’s health sectors,” he added. Appreciating the role of BRAC in the developing country’s health sector, the country director said BRAC is introducing a lot of innovation programmes which have reduced Bangladesh’s own under-five and maternal mortality rates, the latter of which has seen a 40 per cent drop in a decade.
“Bangladesh has made enormous health advances and now has the longest life expectancy, the lowest total fertility rate, lowest infant and under- 5 mortality rates in South Asia,”said McGrath.
Addressing the award giving ceremony, Dr Kaosar Afsana, director of BRAC’s Health, Nutrition and Population Programme said the Manoshi programme offers a comprehensive package of health services to mothers, infants and children.
To meet their health needs and challenges, Manoshi has three key innovations that provide holistic solutions including simple, clean delivery rooms for new mothers, quick access to emergency health services for those who could not afford it and digital data collection on patients for more efficient health service delivery.
Azizul Huq, managing director of GSK Bangladesh, said, “This remarkable project shows what can be achieved through innovation from within those closest to
healthcare challenges faced by developing countries and we are delighted to be able to recognise the hard work of all involved. It has saved lives of mothers and children in Bangladesh and can make a difference for the people of Sierra Leone.”
-With New Age input
