Grand Challenges Canada's maternal and child health programs receive $161M boost

By Debbie Lawes

Grand Challenges Canada is one of the biggest beneficiaries of the federal government's $3.5-billion commitment to maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH). International Development minister Christian Paradis announced June 12 that GCC would receive $161 million over 10 years (2015-2025) to test and scale up GCC-funded innovations that will have the greatest impact on maternal and child survival in developing countries. Its mandate is to support "bold ideas with big impact in global health".

Paradis said GCC's innovation platform for MNCH will continue to test ideas in realistic conditions and bring innovations to operational scale, which means "we will need to find the ways and means to get these innovations out on the front line of national health services all over the world".

The targeted funding will go to three GCC programs: Saving Lives at Birth, Saving Brains and the MNCH portion of Stars in Global Health. The new money is in addition to $22.8 million allocated in the government's April Budget for the organization's current fiscal year (R$, April 30/15). GCC CEO Dr Peter Singer says negotiations are underway with Ottawa to determine if the $22.8 million will be targeted funding.

Singer points out that the $161 million isn't intended to be a renewal of all the organization's programs, just the MNCH ones. The money will flow from the Department of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Development (DFATD) as part of the prime minister's $3.5-billion commitment to MNCH made last spring (2015-2020).

(GCC also received $10 million over two years as part of a strategic partnership with DFATD to accelerate the scale up of health innovations in developing countries. That funding ends October 2015).

"MNCH activity is a significant component of what we do, maybe half, but it's not the totality of what we do," Singer told RE$EARCH MONEY. "The biggest priority that falls outside the envelop of MNCH is the global mental health program which has contributed about $32 million to 64 innovations (its most recent competition was in 2014)… There is also our Stars in Global Health Program, about 60% of whom are not MNCH. Those original stars are now bearing results and ready for scaling."

The future of GCC's core funding will likely be affected by a summative evaluation of a program called the Development Innovation Fund, which has been GCC's main funding mechanism. In 2010, the DIF committed to provide GCC with $225 million over five years, to 2015 (R$, May 21, 2010).

The consortium that manages the fund — comprised of International Development Research Centre, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research and GCC — amended DIF's funding agreement in January 2014 in response to lower than expected GCC expenditures during its start-up phase. The change resulted in GCC's $225 million being extended from five to seven years.

Main funding mechanism under review

The formal evaluation of the DIF was completed two years ago and shared with Paradis about 18 months ago, Stephen McGurk, IDRC's Acting VP, Programs and Partnership Branch told the Standing Senate Committee on National Finance on November 4. The results of the evaluation are expected by the end of August.

In the absence of new core funding, GCC could be facing a budget shortfall. But Singer remains optimistic. "I don't see (the recent announcements) as a reduction in funding … I see it as a renewal of some programs and with other programs unfolding and reviews ongoing," he says.

GCC has a strong case to make for renewed core funding. In addition to being the government's largest research program supporting MNCH, it is often touted by senior politicians for its success in working with DFATD to pioneer a new approach to development assistance called "blended finance", which leverages government and philanthropic funds such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to mobilize private capital for R&D. This approach integrates science and technology, social and business innovation — called integrated innovation — to test and scale up successful innovations.

"This kind of blended financing will give us the power to turn billions of dollars into trillions," Paradis said in his address announcing GCC's recent funding. "And that, along with the innovation that Grand Challenges Canada brings to the table, will help to speed up progress toward our collective development goals."

Since its launch in 2010, GCC has supported more than 700 innovations, implemented in over 80 countries, and has leveraged $295 million in additional funding from outside the Canadian government, including significant private sector investment.

GCC notes on its website that "Our funds are now (almost) fully allocated, and so we will turn our attention to scaling innovations already supported across our programs."

Last fall, senator Irving Gerstein described GCC as "a jewel in Canada's support of global funding around the world". "I know it had a great impact on the Gates Foundation and the approach they take to funding, and was very well recognized by then secretary of state, Hillary Clinton," Gerstein told the Senate finance committee in November.

GCC's grand challenges model has since been replicated in several countries, including Israel, Brazil, India, South Africa, Peru and Thailand.

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