Innovate with MSF!

Bringing innovation into the medical waste management sector in developing countries

This challenge is only open to worldwide startups



Do you want to make a difference and shape the future of emergency health care? Well, here’s your chance!

Medical humanitarian organization, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), in collaboration with SDGs Holistic Innovation Platform (SHIP) is inviting world-wide start-ups to join the ‘Innovate with MSF’ challenge and find a solution to the following question:

How can we innovate sharps waste management in order to reduce accidents, and make usage of limited space more efficient?

Finalists will have the chance to pitch their pioneering idea to MSF and SHIP representatives in one of MSF's offices! The two winning start-ups will then be rewarded with an invitation to one of MSF’s offices to develop a pilot alongside with MSF!

So, if you think that you have what it takes, don’t miss your chance and join in!




Health facilities are responsible for ensuring that their medical waste is rendered harmless to all people who are potentially at risk.

‘Sharps’ refers to any device or object that could puncture or lacerate the skin. They are considered to be one of the most dangerous forms of medical waste and a common source of accidents that affect medical staff in health facilities. In MSF settings, the management of sharps waste remains problematic.



What can you do?

It may be a new sharps waste destructor, a re-invention of the needle, or something completely new!

See below the two scenarios that we are inviting you to consider in order to tackle this waste management problem.




In order to reduce the likelihood and impact of incidents, especially to MSF staff working in health facilities, we are looking for a solution to help health staff dispose of sharps (e. g. syringes after an injection) in a safer way.


In order to make used sharps safe for the population and to reduce the volume of waste linked to sharps (e.g. syringes), we are looking for a solution to dispose of large amounts of safety boxes which contain sharp waste.


The challenge is hosted on another platform. Click on the link below to participate!