The UK Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) funds outstanding global health research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR). This programme is administered by the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), which reports activities under the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). NIHR disburses funds to EPSRC, which makes onwards disbursements to awardees. This research call is a high quality programme of research centred on innovative healthcare technologies, to tackle the challenges faced by low- and middle-income countries. Proposals must address one of the two priority areas: (1) low cost, rapid, point of care imagine and diagnostic technologies; (2) affordable prosthetics and orthotics.

The overall aim of this call is to develop frugal innovation approaches for healthcare technologies in specific priority areas, which have the potential to revolutionise care pathways in low and middle income countries (LMICs). Such technologies must be developed in partnership with teams from LMICs, and have the delivery of impactful, cost-effective, culturally acceptable, and sustainable welfare and economic benefits within LMICs as their primary objective.