The Africa Young Innovators for Health Award is the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) and Speak Up Africa‘s flagship program focused on supporting young health entrepreneurs across Africa with the tools they need to advance promising healthcare solutions for the betterment of their communities.
Launched in 2021, the first edition of the Award focused on solutions that supported, equipped, protected, and trained healthcare workers working tirelessly to protect and treat the public amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the second edition of the Award, we seek to find and nurture health innovations that will help us get closer to the vision of Universal Health Coverage (UHC). UHC means everyone has access to the healthcare services that they need, of good quality and without the risk of financial hardship (WHO 2007).
Eligibility Criteria
We call on applications from young African innovators (aged 21 to 35) who have already developed a minimum viable healthcare product/service (or are in the process of developing such a product or service) that contributes to achieve UHC by:
- Increasing the population coverage (how many people and/or who receive services or products (for example, youth, women, children, rural communities…), and/or
- Increasing the service coverage (i.e what health services are available), and/or
- Improving the cost-effectiveness of healthcare delivery, and/or
- In any other way, helps achieve Universal Healthcare Coverage.
Offered Benefits
In support of gender equality we are ensuring that both genders will benefit equally from the Award program, this means two men and two women will be selected for the first and second prize:
- Funding totaling $90,000: 2 X First prizes of $30,000 and 2 X Second prizes of $15,000
- Mentorship: A three-month business mentorship program from prominent business leaders
- IP rights: Expert advice on Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) and any legal aspects by Adams & Adams
- Media exposure: Media training, increased PR and press opportunities to present your innovation to global audience
- Global network: Access to a network of supporters and partners working across healthcare, technology, and media
