Sustainable deployment of health equity innovations at the country level

Good health and well-being underpin most of the Sustainable Development Goals. Unfortunately, not everyone can get access to affordable quality primary health care, especially those who are struggling to fulfill their basic needs.

These are the people who are often overlooked, marginalised, or excluded by the health system, due to multiple factors, such as poverty, geography, ethnicity, gender, disability, or conflict. They are the ones who bear the greatest burden of disease and mortality, and who have the least voice and agency in their own health.

Reaching these communities to ensure that they receive quality and timely care is, therefore, not only a matter of justice but also of necessity. If we want to improve the health and well-being of everyone, we cannot afford to leave anyone behind.

To that end, GaneshAID Equity is established to understand and address the barriers and drivers that prevent missed communities from accessing health services. Serving as an operational arm of GaneshAID and its other Centres of Expertise, GaneshAID Equity is responsible for introducing and scaling up innovations to countries in need based on well-conducted situation analysis.

Through constructive discussions with local governments, academic institutions, the private sector, and civil society organisations, we co-design and co-deliver solutions and interventions tailored to the specific needs of targeted communities. The importance of this approach lies in the fact that it introduces not only solutions and interventions from GaneshAID but also those from other organisations.

By collaborating and coordinating with other sectors and actors who share our vision and goals, we are able to encourage in-country ownership and secure the sustainability of the innovations. To GaneshAID, this is the way to ensure that no one is left behind or out of the health agenda and that everyone can enjoy their full potential for health and happiness.

At GaneshAID, equity is the most important value which is present and always reflected in all of our work, not only through GaneshAID Equity, but also through GaneshAID Intelligence, GaneshAID Academy, and GaneshAID Smart.

Recognising the shared responsibility to reach out and deliver high-quality services to vulnerable communities, GaneshAID Equity has collaborated with governments and partners to transform and innovate national health systems for a resilient, strong, agile, and human-centred delivery of health services.

By documenting and learning from proven public health interventions, we cultivate pro-equity innovations and scale up high-impact practices to improve universal health and immunisation coverage.

In recent years, GaneshAID Equity has provided technical assistance to support 08 countries in the identification of zero-dose and under-immunised children at national and subnational levels, as well as to develop their applications for the Gavi funding streams, such as Equity Accelerator Funding (EAF), Cold Chain Equipment Optimisation Platform (CCEOP), and Full Portfolio Planning (FPP).

As part of collaborative efforts with in-country stakeholders, GaneshAID Equity conducted a situational analysis to provide a comprehensive picture of the zero-dose and under-immunised children, as well as factors that contribute to their under-vaccination. Under the leadership of the national EPI programme, our team then facilitated interactive ideation sessions to develop innovative and tailored ideas that address challenges identified in the situational analysis.

Through the interventions developed from our assistance, we hope to help zero-dose and under-immunised children in developing countries obtain a full course of vaccination and ensure that they are protected from vaccine-preventable diseases for the rest of their lives.

Scaling up innovations is a major challenge facing many governments, donors, and implementing agencies in developing countries. New solutions and interventions are of limited importance if they do not have a demonstrated impact on health and immunisation programmes and services.

Indeed, innovations cannot simply be developed with the assurance that they will automatically be adopted by the country. Therefore, the scaling up of innovation must be carefully planned and co-developed with the commitment of all actors under national leadership.

This strategic vision of scaling up innovative approaches is vital to increasing the impact of successfully tested pilot projects. It is important not only to focus on innovation but also to anticipate its deployment, as well as its integration into the health system.

Thus, this view of scaling up is key to enabling more people to benefit from innovation and innovative interventions to be adopted on a sustainable basis.

Our Innovations Are Yours!