Fairfield-Based Save The Children Is A Contender For $100M Grant

Via Save the Children:

FAIRFIELD, CT — A bold solution to dramatically cut the death toll from healthcare-associated infections, developed by Save the Children and three other global leaders in health, is in the running for a prestigious $100 million grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.

The MacArthur Foundation announced Wednesday the highest-scoring proposals, designated as the Top 100, in its 100&Change competition for a $100 million grant for a project that can help solve one of the world's most critical social challenges.

Save the Children, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, WaterAid and Kinnos have partnered to create Bold Action to Stop Infections in Clinical Settings. Working in partnership with national and local governments, BASICS will support sustainable improvements in water, sanitation and hygiene services at health facilities.

This project will improve cleanliness and the practices of staff, patients and visitors and make infection prevention supplies available. These improvements will reduce infection rates, which will reduce patient stay times, the use of antibiotics and the tremendous cost burdens for families and health systems.

“We are thrilled to be among the Top 100 in this incredibly competitive grant competition,” said Save the Children President and CEO Janti Soeripto. “All four BASICS partners have contributed their best programming, their top health staff and evidence-based work to create this roadmap for national health ministries to address a calamity that’s occurring globally in health care.”

Every year, an estimated 46 million people worldwide contract a healthcare-associated infection from dirty instruments, improperly cleaned surfaces or from health workers who cannot or do not wash their hands.

Research has shown that infection rates at health facilities can be cut in half when workers wash their hands properly. BASICS will help all staff, from cleaners to midwives, nurses, doctors and administrators make effective infection prevention practices, like hand washing, part of their daily routine.

BASICS can also help curb the alarming global rise in antimicrobial resistant infections, which kill some 700,000 people every year — 200,000 of whom are newborn babies whose infections simply do not respond to drugs.

100&Change is a distinctive competition that is open to organizations and collaborations working in any field, anywhere in the world. Proposals must identify a problem and offer a solution that promises significant and durable change.

The Top 100 finalists were rigorously vetted, undergoing MacArthur’s review, a peer-to-peer review, an evaluation by an external panel of judges and a technical review by specialists whose expertise was matched to the project. Each proposal was evaluated using four criteria: impactful, evidence-based, feasible and durable.

MacArthur’s board of directors will select up to 10 finalists from these high-scoring proposals this spring.