Deadline: 22 April 2020
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is currently accepting proposals for the Round 25 of the Grand Challenges Exploration (GCE) on the topic of “Innovations for Improving the Impact of Health Campaigns”.
The Foundation is seeking innovative solutions that accelerate the improvement of coverage, reach, efficiency, and effectiveness of mass health campaigns that deliver health products or services in low-and middle-income countries, specifically through improved planning/microplanning and focus on unreached populations.
Specifically, the Foundation is looking for innovations in approaches, practices, or tools that dramatically improve the planning/microplanning that will lead to improved effectiveness of campaigns. They are also looking for innovative tools and technologies to more effectively identify and reach the most vulnerable populations when countries are designing and implementing mass campaigns.
In order to contribute to the development and spread of campaign “best practices”, a solution should be applicable to campaigns beyond the context in which it is originally tested (e.g., applicable in multiple lower- to middle-incomes countries and/or applicable across multiple types of health campaigns such as immunization, NTDs, malaria, or nutrition).
The Foundation is especially interested in novel approaches that draw on innovation from large-scale delivery models outside of the health sector, which may include interventions used in the private sector.
Funding Information
Awards of $100,000 USD are made in Phase I. Phase I awardees may have one opportunity to apply for a follow-on Phase II award of up to $1,000,000 USD.
Successful proposals should consider the following:
- Planning and microplanning: This includes the planning processes – led by governments and often supported by partners – at the national, sub-national, facility, or community levels. Overall planning supports the mobilization of information and resources needed to conduct the campaign, and microplanning specifically addresses the detailed, delivery-level planning required to reach intended populations with the health intervention. Innovations might include/consider:
- Interactive or adaptive microplans that better incorporate past or real-time data (e.g. based on prior campaign performance or operational monitoring data) to guide planning and implementation.
- Increased automation of microplans (e.g. updating, adapting microplans for other platforms).
- Modeling and analytics to test, identify, and recommend more effective implementation approaches (e.g. modeling to identify optimal location of campaign fixed sites and outreach posts in order to improve community access).
- Novel or nontraditional information or data sources to improve the accuracy of planning (e.g. geospatial data to improve population estimation or location and more accurately plan for and target campaign delivery).
- Technologies for developing and using community maps or populations that can help campaigns to better reach their intended age groups or sub-populations.
- Novel approaches to understanding the effectiveness of campaign planning and implementation while campaigns are ongoing or during post-campaign evaluations.
- Identifying and reaching high-risk or unreached populations: This includes innovative approaches to better understand, identify, and reach un/underserved communities and unreached or “zero-dose” children. This will likely include novel tools, technologies, and methodologies to more effectively identify and reach high-risk or unreached populations at a subnational level (e.g. approaches to leverage data, maps, or other information to support campaign planning, appropriate use of targeted or sub-national campaigns, and post-campaign assessments).
Criteria for success include solutions that:
- Are transformative, novel, or innovative. These interventions will significantly change the way in which campaigns are planned, conducted, or evaluated by proposing new ways of working, leveraging lessons from other sectors, or increasing transparency and effectiveness.
- Could be used by various health campaigns beyond the campaign in which the innovation is originally conceptualized or tested, such as for immunization (measles, yellow fever, meningitis, etc.), neglected tropical diseases (trachoma, onchocerciasis, schistosomiasis etc.), nutrition (vitamin A, deworming), malaria (bed net distribution, seasonal malaria chemoprophylaxis), and polio.
- Could be used in various low- and middle-income countries beyond the country in which the innovation is originally conceptualized or tested.
- Can be designed, tested, and scaled as a “best practice”.
- Can be applied in low- and middle-income countries.
- Are cost effective.
Eligibility Criteria
- GCE is open to both foreign and domestic organizations, including non-profit organizations, for-profit companies, international organizations, government agencies, and academic institutions. Upon registration, applicants must provide information about the tax status of their organization as different terms and conditions may apply.
- You should confirm your organization’s tax status with the appropriate person or group within your organization such as your grants or contracts department, finance, or office of sponsored research. Please select the tax status that most closely reflects your current organization’s status. The foundation may request additional organizational information.
How to Apply
Applicants can apply via given website.
For more information, visit https://gcgh.grandchallenges.org/challenge/innovations-improving-impact-health-campaigns-round-25