MIAMI--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Applicants seeking to win $1 million to save children’s lives from preventable causes now have until May 31, 2013, to submit their proposals to the Caplow Children's Prize. Applications have already been received from nearly 50 different countries around the world, but the extra time will allow even more participation.

The rules to the Children’s Prize are simple: Each applicant must propose a plan to save the lives of children who would otherwise die before age five. The lives to be saved must be in immediate danger, and the identity of the beneficiaries must be provided to the donor after the plan is carried out. Plans should balance credibility with the greatest number of lives to be saved within two years. The winner will receive US $1 million to execute their vision. All submitted materials must be in English, and the entire application process can be completed online at www.childrensprize.org. The Children's Prize is open to any person or organization worldwide.

In 2011, almost seven million children around the world died before their fifth birthday from preventable causes such as malaria, diarrhea, pneumonia, malnutrition, or infection.

“The death of a child is a universal tragedy,” says engineer and entrepreneur Dr. Ted Caplow, creator of the Children’s Prize, “and this contest strives to harness the power of the communications age to create new leverage for philanthropy in this area.”

As a recent father of triplets, Dr. Caplow's journey through the world of fetal medicine had a deep impact on him. Struck by the enormous concentration of resources - medical, financial, and human - that were drawn into assuring the survival of premature infants, he decided to make child mortality the focus of this Prize competition.

Finalists for the Caplow Children's Prize will be selected by an expert judging committee of pediatricians, public health experts, and social entrepreneurs drawn from Harvard University, the University of Miami, Emory University, Ashoka, Agora, and other high-performing organizations.