Future United Global Awards 2023: Celebrating Health Innovators Worldwide

The principle of global health is rooted in the conviction that everyone, regardless of their place of birth, should have access to quality health care. While there has been considerable progress worldwide in recent years, much work remains to be done to achieve this objective. Entrepreneurs, innovators, and audacious thinkers continue to play a crucial role in finding sustainable and unique solutions to urgent health issues; the Future United Awards were established to enhance their influence.

These awards recognize both profit and non-profit organizations and individuals who have made exceptional contributions in the field of global health, regardless of their size or whether they operate on a global or local scale.

The 2023 winners, based across five continents, each bring a unique approach to addressing key issues and enhancing health for people globally. The winners are:

• The Provocateur Award – Blackfrog Technologies is known for creating patented technologies for precise cold chain and vaccine traceability systems. This includes Emvólio, a patented technology that rapidly cools and safely transports vaccines, insulin, breast milk, blood serums, medications & specimens with minimal thermal shock.
• The Collaborator Award – Neotree has developed technology that enables healthcare professionals in resource-limited settings, such as Malawi and Zimbabwe, to count and care for every newborn. They use an innovative digital platform that combines data collection and visualization, digital education, clinical decision support, and quality improvement.
• The Lodestar Award – Maisha Meds improves access to high-quality, affordable health care through private pharmacies and clinics — a first point of care for millions of people across Africa. Their platform combines cutting-edge technology, deliveries of vetted medications, and targeted subsidies that inform patient and provider decisions.
• The Futurist Award – OpenBiome is a pioneering nonprofit microbiome health organization based in Massachusetts that addresses systemic inequities in microbiome science to scale its impact on global health.
• The Multiplier Award – EOS International is a nonprofit social enterprise that provides rural communities in Honduras, Nicaragua, and El Salvador with access to safe drinking water through its innovative market-based Circuit Rider Model.

“This year’s future united award winners, finalists and nominees are doing the imaginative, brave and bold work that is necessary to change the face of global health,” said Lesley-Anne Long, President & CEO of GBCHealth while adding, “The awards highlight organizations with incredible impact and potential, and by putting them in the global spotlight and welcoming them to the future united community, we help connect them with the partners and collaborators who can help them take the next step and make exponentially more impact.”

The announcement of the winners took place at GBCHealth’s ‘Celebrate’ event on September 19th in New York City, with the generous backing of the Aig-Imoukhuede Foundation and Merck. The Future United Global Awards were first introduced in New York the previous year with five remarkable winners, and this was followed by the 2023 Future United Africa Awards earlier this year.