Will offering a hefty cash prize to inventing entities bring more innovative strategies to long-standing world challenges? Some say it will, and indeed it has. A recent Economist article cited a burgeoning sector in the private commercial air-space service after the successful $10M Ansari X prize was given out in 2004.
Such a reward scheme has been a practice since 1714 in Britain. The question begs, will it work in the public health sector? It remains to be seen, such as with the Advanced Market Commitment (AMC)'s $1.5-billion challenge to beef up production of pneumococcal vaccines to supply developing countries.
Further, why not come up with a parallel punishment mechanism? If research institutes are so adamant in requesting for initial funding, why have we not seen such eagerness to promote their supposed output? I wonder.
References:
1. The Economist. (2010, August 5). And the winner is…
2. PneumoAction.
3. The Global Health Case Study Initiative.
4. WHO Bulletin. (2008, May 5). Controversial funding mechanism to fight pneumonia.
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