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 innovations 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 theCOVID-19 pandemic.

In the Award’s second edition, 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, without the risk of financial hardship (WHO 2007). We are interested in hearing from those whose health innovations strive to ensure “Health for All. Everywhere.” This can be through helping to improve access to health products and services, using digital technologies to train health workers, connecting patients and healthcare providers, creating new ways of raising health awareness and improving health literacy, developing supply chain solutions, and more.

In this second edition, four award winners will receive funding totaling 90,000 USD to bring their healthcare innovation to life. They will benefit from a three-month business mentorship program, media training, expert advice on intellectual property protection, where relevant, as well as access to a network of supporters and partners working across digital, healthcare, and media.

key figures

• 39 Women and girls Grassroot organizations
• $800,000 disbursed as small grants to women and girls grassroot organizations
• 3 Strong network of women and girls’ influencers championing Voix EssentiELLES
• 22 CSO participated in Global Fund country dialogue processes (8 in Senegal, 11 in Burkina Faso and 3 in Ivory Coast).
• Creation of 2 Voix EssentiELLES networks in Côte d’Ivoire and Burkina Faso, and ongoing process in Senegal.