AsianScientist (Apr. 28, 2015) – Grand Challenges Canada, funded by the Government of Canada, together with the Grand Challenges India initiative of the Government of India, will invest of CAD$2.5 million (~US$2 million) in five health innovations in India. The new funding package was announced during an official visit to Canada by the Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
The announcement includes a US$1.07 million investment in a Transition to Scale project which will provide ‘crèches’ (daycare centers) for children of migrant construction workers in India, as well as three proof-of-concept grants (totaling US$657,000), of which two are co-funded by India’s Department of Biotechnology (DBT).
The Indian construction industry is the second largest employer after agriculture and employs 30 million workers. Three million young children of these migrant construction workers end up on construction sites in unsafe and unhygienic surroundings, without physical, educational and emotional care, in addition to being exposed to health risks.
India and Canada have also agreed to accelerate ongoing efforts towards the elimination of visceral leishmaniasis in India by jointly supporting an existing Grand Challenges Canada project in Bihar state. DBT and Grand Challenges Canada will jointly invest US$384,000 in Accredited Social Health Activists training in 25 highly endemic Primary Health Centers (PHC) and case tracking in five PHCs.
To date, Grand Challenges Canada has supported over 100 innovations in India, a total investment of more than US$18.7 million. Grand Challenges Canada has also partnered with the National Council of Indo-Canadians to ensure the engagement of Canada’s vibrant Indian community in the Grand Challenges partnership.
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Source: Grand Challenges Canada; Photo: Pratham Books/Flickr/CC.
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