Canada has forked out $11.8 million in funding over two years for 11 bold ideas from innovators in the developing world, to stop ‘200-million young brains around the world from being thrown into waste bins’.

Called the Saving Brains initiative the global program aims to address health conditions causing diminished cognitive potential and stunting  and include plans to encourage so-called 'kangaroo mother care,' where low-weight newborns are held skin to skin rather than put into incubators.

Around 200-million children, including many in South Africa and Asia, fail to meet their full developmental potential because of the debilitating impact of poverty – contributing to a cycle where poor countries remain poor.

“It is a huge waste of talent and potential. It equates to taking 200-million young brains around the world and throwing them into 200-million waste bins,” said Dr Peter Singer, CEO of Grand Challenges Canada, the driving force behind a government funded initiative to support 11 bold ideas that address the health conditions causing diminished cognitive potential and stunting in children.

The projects, will be implemented in Africa and Asian countries such as Thailand, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India.

“These ideas are proven in the short term, but now the funding will provide innovators the opportunity to study the long-term developmental potential of these interventions,” said Silver.

Commenting on the challenging task of having to distinguish between a host of developmental challenges facing especially poor countries, Silver agrees that “there is only so far we can go with another baby message”. This is why the innovations will be linked to the impact it could have on the individual’s earning power later in life and in turn the economies of countries, a language politicians understand.

Singer believes that once the spotlight is focused on the problem it will make sense to people and why it is such a critical issue to address

Singer added: “We need human capital and to create it, we need to pay attention to the development of children.”

Among the 11 innovations that will the dollars are: 

Maternal Depression Interventions. Maternal depression before birth is a proven risk factor for child development. This is a significant barrier to cognitive development in poor countries, where as many as 30% of all perinatal pregnant women suffer from depression.  A study in Pakistan indicates that a program to alleviate maternal depression has been extremely successful in addressing symptoms, which resulted in more play with infants up to one year old. The interaction between mother and baby may lead to significant improvements in child development.  Now the study will assess the long-term benefits to children up to 12 years old when maternal depression is addressed.

 

Kangaroo Mother Care. Premature birth is a health problem around the world, contributing to about 2 million infant deaths a year. 90% of pre-term births occur in the developing world, and in Canada there has been a gradual rise to 8.1% of all deliveries. Kangaroo Mother Care is a 

simple but powerful intervention that provides nutrition, warmth and bonding. Potentially, Kangaroo Mother Care is superior to incubator care for brain development. The grant will enable innovators in Colombia and collaborators in Quebec to look at the long-term impact of Kangaroo Mother Care on children’s cognitive development, including school achievement, post-secondary education and entry into the workforce.

 

Nutrition Intervention. In Bangladesh, expecting mothers and babies were given Vitamin A supplements, which reduced infant deaths by 15%. This Grand Challenges Canada grant will enable innovators to test the impact of early Vitamin A supplementation on cognitive development on older children who are 7 or 8 years old. Vitamin A may be key to brain and central nervous system development and function. 

 

Early Treatment of Malaria in Children to Prevent Brain Injury.  As many as 300 million children are infected in malaria-prone countries every year; malaria can attack the brain and the central nervous system. Evidence shows that early treatment of children, using the anti-malarial drug artesunate, can minimize brain injury and improve recovery.  In parts of the developing world, it can take, on average, 15 hours for a patient to reach a hospital — a deadly delay. Innovators in Thailand have proven that administering an artesunate suppository before the long trip to the hospital can ward off brain injury in children. New funding from Grand Challenges Canada will enable the innovators to identify the long- term developmental benefits of this early malaria treatment.