KINGSTON, Jamaica — LifeSavers Wipes, a locally conceptualised Jamaican-made product, has won the top prize in global innovations of 2019-2021 at the International Design Excellence Awards (IDEA) held at the Miami Beach Convention Centre in the United States. 

The wipes won the award for the best new product globally of 2019-2021.

LifeSavers Wipes, which can indicate to its user if there are any irregularities in their urine, now joins previous winners including Huggies pull-ups, Purex three-in-one laundry sheets, Lysol disinfectant wipes and Procter & Gamble’s Swiffers in an exclusive group set to become game-changers in the engineered fabrics industry.

The specially formulated sheets change colour if it comes in contact with abnormal levels of glucose in the urine, thus indicating the need for medical attention.

The winning product was created by a team led by University lecturer and radio presenter Georgia Crawford Williams, along with scientists Dr Peter Nelson and Shannon DaCosta.

Crawford Williams took to social media to share the news after winning the competition.

She thanked the individuals who assisted in the making of the product and encouraged others by sharing her story.

“When we were there, the other nominees were billion-dollar companies — there was one company that was there that was started in 1790, and still we were able to stand with confidence and then we were determined to be the winners among them,” Crawford Williams said in a video posted to social media.

“I fear that when young people hear we seh ‘wi likkle but wi tallawah’, they don’t understand what we mean. My entire product was developed in Jamaica. My scientists were educated, born and bred in Jamaica, and they are nothing short of brilliance,” she continued, adding that funding was also provided by family and friends in Jamaica.

The wipes had been nominated among the top-three global innovations of the period.

The other two innovations nominated alongside LifeSavers wipes are Organic 2.0 — a biodegradable wipe that uses the Nobel Prize-winning organocatalysed technology, and MDP – a bladder leakage product for men.

READ: Local wipes among top global innovations

Some of the world’s most successful and popular products are IDEA winners.

This year marks the 42nd anniversary of the IDEA, one of the longest-running and most prestigious design awards programs in existence.