Shimba Technologies, a mobile software developer based in Nairobi, is continuing to expand the reach and availability of its all-in-one healthcare app, MedAfrica, in an effort to expand access to online health services for all Africans.
Launched in November 2011, MedAfrica was recognized as a Top 10 mobile app in Demo.com’s app competition in Silicon Valley. The app had more than 70,000 users by March 2012, and currently sees more than one thousand downloads every day. Intended to provide access to health information among Africa’s most vulnerable people, MedAfrica provides access to consultation with certified medical practitioners, scheduling with local medical facilities, drug services, and symptoms monitoring.
“Our mission is to increase access to health related content and services to save lives and build a healthy population, our target being to reach every household in Africa”, said Jackline Cheruiyot, MedAfrica team leader at Shimba Technologies. “If the current pace of adoption in Kenya is any indication, such a target is no pipe dream.”
According to the World Health Organization, 37 percent of Africans currently reside in urban areas, meaning the majority of people live in rural areas lacking substantially developed social infrastructure. While the proportion of urban residents is expected to increase to 53 percent by 2030, the vast majority of city-dwellers in sub-Saharan Africa live in slums, where access to health services is lacking and the high population density increases the spread of communicable disease.
“A significant share of ill health in slums stems from poor access to sanitation and clean drinking water. In 2000, 30-50% of African urban dwellers lacked a safe water supply”, writes Brodie Ramin, a Professor of Health at the University of Ottowa. “Flooded areas and ditches, latrines and septic tanks are key reservoirs that perpetuate cholera, malaria, dengue and yellow fever in urban areas. Infectious disease outbreaks are also precipitated by the high population density found in these areas, with overcrowding triggering epidemic-prone infections like pertussis and influenza.”
As of 2009, per-capita spending on health services in Africa was $83, less than two percent of average spending in high-income countries. With health spending generally stagnant throughout the region, the availability of online health services will become more and more significant for Africans living in moderate to extreme poverty. Between 2000 and 2012, the number of Internet users throughout Africa grew more than 3,600 percent to 167 million. Self-diagnosis of noncommunicable disease (such as hypertension, heart disease, diabetes and stroke) will become increasingly possible as Internet access pervades urban populations.
“Affordable access [to Internet] is no longer a luxury”, said connectivity advocate Steve Song in an interview with Africa in Fact magazine. “It is a tide that raises all ships. It creates efficiencies at every level from the rural farmer to the large corporation…It can enable better healthcare, better education, better services all round. And perhaps most importantly, it opens the doors to innovation, to new ideas and new opportunities for everyone.”
Increased access to online healthcare products like MedAfrica can also remove the need for low-income people to physically attend medical facilities and pay for in-person consultation, activities which carry high opportunity costs with respect to time and wages. The more quickly and effectively a person can access medical advice or diagnoses, the more time and money they can invest in activities that generate income for themselves, their families, and their communities.
As access to services like MedAfrica becomes more ubiquitous, healthcare in Africa will continue to become increasingly efficient. Medical facilities will be better able to focus resources on non-preventable disease, and people in urban populations will be better equipped to confront the medical conditions that pervade their communities. The WHO estimates that improvements to healthcare access could increase the life expectancy of at-risk Africans up to ten years, a prerequisite for economic growth and an indicator of increasingly friendly conditions for private investment. These improvements are auspicious for potential American investment in African healthcare markets as well as at-risk African people as a whole.
– Zach VeShancey
Sources: African Business Review, MedAfrica, All Countries, WHO, UN, NCBI
Photo: Flickr
UNICEF’s 2015 Progress for Children Report Reflects on Successes and Challenges
At the Millennium Summit in September 2000, world leaders came together to adopt the UN Millennium Declaration, committing to working towards eliminating global poverty. The Millennium Development Goals are time-bound, specific targets for addressing extreme poverty in many forms, such as income, hunger, disease, lack of shelter, and exclusion. Eight general goals were set forth: eradicate extreme hunger and poverty, achieve universal primary education, promote gender equality and empower women, reduce child mortality, improve maternal health, combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases, ensure environmental sustainability, and develop a global partnership for development.
Many of the targets were intended to help the world’s children. Leaders planned to reduce the under-five mortality rate by two-thirds, ensure that all children would be able to complete a full course of primary school, and eliminate gender disparity at all levels of education.
2015 is the deadline for the MDGs, and UNICEF takes a critical look at how life for children has changed since 1990 in their report “Progress for Children.” Today, the chances that a child will not only survive, but enjoy a higher quality of life, have increased significantly, but there is still plenty of work to be done.
Great strides have been made in certain areas. Overall, the number of people living in extreme poverty has decreased, from 1.9 billion to one billion. Children today enjoy better nutrition, with a 41 percent decrease in stunting rates. Furthermore, they are more likely to get a primary school education, with the number of out of school children reduced from 104 million to 58 million. Four regions have also achieved gender parity at primary school level. The mortality rate for children under five has also fallen by 53 percent. Worldwide, most children born today enjoy many advantages over children born in 1990.
Sadly, these achievements have not reached every child. UNICEF states that the most marginalized and vulnerable children are still struggling in many areas. Children from the poorest households still endure many hardships. They are twice as likely to die before age 5. When it comes to education, they are less likely to achieve minimum learning standards, and poor girls are particularly disadvantaged in this area. Adolescent girls are disproportionately effect by HIV, accounting for two-thirds of all new HIV infections among adolescents. The gap in child marriage for rich and poor girls has also increased. Clearly, the work does not stop with the end of the MDGs’ timeline.
The UN is currently working on a new set of goals to chart a course for future progress in fighting global poverty: the Sustainable Development Goals. While developing new targets, they must consider that the most disadvantaged children cannot be left behind again. These new goals must be set with the primary objective of helping the world’s poorest children see a better future.
– Jane Harkness
Sources: UN, UNICEF, WHO
Photo: Uwezo
Coldplay Stands Up for Girls Living in Poverty
Today, 62 million adolescent girls around the world are not receiving an education.
Together, Global Poverty Project and the band Coldplay would like to change this. As partners, the dynamic duo will encourage countries to vote in favor of global education, ideally announcing their support at the Global Citizen Festival in September, where Coldplay will perform.
If countries fund continued education, extreme poverty can be alleviated. An annual $39 billion will provide these girls with 12 years of free, sustainable education – the same amount it costs to fund eight days of global military spending. Continued education has the power to provide the impoverished with sustainable livings, better health and overall independence.
In the past several years, Coldplay has positively used their fame to shed light on the issue of global poverty. As a headliner at the 2015 Global Citizen Festival this September, the English band will bring attention to the Global Goals, a set of 17 initiatives that seek to end extreme poverty, inequality and climate change. The first goal is to end poverty, but the fourth goal is to ensure unbiased, quality education for all humans.
Due to gender inequality, girls are often refused an education. Not only is providing girls with an education a basic human right, but it will also help to break the cycle of extreme global poverty. Girls that go to school are more likely to postpone unwanted marriages and pregnancies, are less susceptible to HIV and AIDS and gain knowledge and skills that lead to a sustainable life with increased earning.
Coldplay is calling on world leaders to support global education to ensure that all humans are granted access to quality education, especially girls that are held back by outdated gender inequalities. Through social media, partnerships with honorable nonprofits and their earned fame, Coldplay chooses to stand up for the girls, understanding that education has the power to end global poverty.
– Sarah Sheppard
Sources: Global Citizen, Global Goals, UNICEF
Photo: Under the Gun Review
Could Plastic Be the Future for Roads?
The U.S. is blessed with an incredible system of roads, highways and streets that for the most part seamlessly connect people across the country. In other countries, this is not the case.
Roads form the basis for economic and social activities, not only in the developed world but also all over the globe. They enable people to access doctors, markets and schools. Usually they carry 60 to 90 percent of all freight and passenger transport. It is for this reason that they are so important in development work.
Even with their importance recognized, most roads in the developing world are under-resourced and poorly managed. Because of this, somewhere between 30 and 50 percent of roads in developing countries are in bad condition. This ends up costing countries a ton of money: two to five percent of their gross domestic products go toward fixing the roads as well as increased vehicle operating costs.
Poor road quality was identified as an issue all the way back in 1988, and following a study that year, many different efforts started to improve the situation. A new one has surfaced today, however: using recycled plastic to build pieces that can snap together to form roads.
A company in the Netherlands, KWS Infa, has developed their “PlasticRoad” material using things like plastic. There are a multitude of benefits to building roads in the developing world using this material as opposed to asphalt.
The original intention of KWS Infa to develop a plastic road was because they would not break down as easy as asphalt when laid on poor soil, which is a widespread phenomenon in the Netherlands. While bringing this capacity to developing countries, plastic roads last as much as three times longer than their paved counterparts. To go along with this longevity is an ability to withstand a wider range of temperatures – -40 to 176 degrees Fahrenheit.
The roads also benefit the environment. Instead of filling landfills and the sides of roads with plastic that does not make it into recycling, it can instead be used to make road pieces. There is also the added benefit of reduced emissions that are involved with paving roads.
Roads made of plastic can be put into place much quicker than paved roads as well. Simply snap in place the Lego-like sections of the road and viola. Paving can take weeks and weeks. Part of the road is damaged? Simply change out the “Lego piece” section for another one.
India is an ideal place for plastic roads because of the ready supply of the material in the streets, on trees and in fields. Estimates say that around 15,000 tons of plastic waste are created in the country every year. But according to Rajagopalan Vasudevan, it’s a “gift from the gods” because it provides such a huge wealth from which to build roads. So far, only 3,000 miles of road have been laid in 11 states around India.
There are a few concerns regarding plastic roads. While the building blocks are hollow, allowing for pipes and electricity wires to run through them, there is concern with how this will work when only one segment of the road needs to be replaced. There is also concern about how well cars will grip to plastic roads. Only time and more implementation can decide whether plastic road’s positives can outweigh the negatives.
– Gregory Baker
Sources: NBC, Bloomberg
Photo: VolkerWessels
UNITAID Chair Promotes Innovative Financing
In an interview with the Inter Press Service News Agency, UNITAID chair Philippe Douste-Blazy stressed the importance of “innovative financing” in closing the global poverty gap.
Mr. Blazy, who is also the UN Under-Secretary General in charge of Innovative Financing for Development, made these remarks leading up to the Third International Conference for Financing and Development in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, which concluded on July 16. The conference, which included “heads of state and government, and ministers of Finance, Foreign Affairs and Development Cooperation, as well as all relevant institutional stakeholders, non-governmental organizations and business sector entities,” focused on financing solutions in the fight against global poverty.
Issues addressed at the conference included funding sustainable energy for the world’s poor, ways to finance gender equality programs and funding access to water. These are issues that are traditionally focused on, but focusing on them from the perspective of financing allows for sustainable and long-term solutions.
These solutions are imperative to closing the poverty gap. Instead of leaving innovative ideas that remain unfunded and, ultimately, unfulfilled, they provide solutions with a plan.
The initiatives proposed at the conference are ambitious. They include a plan from the Netherlands to provide 30 million people with water and 50 million with sanitary facilities, an effort by nonprofit Solar Sister to fight energy poverty and empower African women, and a commitment by Germany to “lift 500 million people in developing countries out of hunger and malnutrition by 2030.”
Though these goals are lofty, they are imperative in addressing the issue of global poverty in the future. And addressing that issue is imperative in ensuring a safer and more secure world, according to Mr. Blazy, who warned that “if we don’t close the poverty gap, the 21st century will end in extreme violence.” With the stakes higher than they’ve ever been, the financial solutions chosen today will clearly be important tomorrow.
– Andrew Michaels
Sources: Financing for Development Conference 1, Financing for Development Conference 2, Financing for Development Conference 3, Solar Sister, IPS News, IISD Reporting Services
Photo: IPS News
Charity Puts Old Computers to Use in the Developing World
Like The Borgen Project, Computer Aid International is a nonprofit that’s working to reduce and eliminate global poverty, but it goes about that task in a very different way. It’s what’s known as an ICT (Information Communications Technology) development charity, and it’s registered in the U.K.
Computer Aid International takes old computers, wipes their data, and cleans them up until they work like new. They then give those computers new jobs in the nonprofit sector of the developing world.
According to Optimist World, “Computer Aid International sends its PCs to schools, colleges, hospitals and charities in over 100 developing countries … [and] works with partner organizations in the countries it sends its PCs to, who provide the IT training and technical support.”
Meteorological offices depend on the computers sent by this organization, needing them in order to both inform agricultural workers when to sow and reap their crops and also let them know what kinds of seeds will produce maximum yield. Localized forecasts in Uganda, Mozambique and Zimbabwe have greatly assisted communities in protecting against extreme poverty and hunger.
Furthermore, the computers that Computer Aid International provides help children in developing countries with their educations.
“For these students, the opportunities provided through education and IT literacy offer a way out,” said an article in Optimist World. “In Nairobi, the job market is extremely competitive, and it is only with computer skills that young people can compete for professional or administrative jobs.”
By giving these younger generations the opportunity to compete in the job market, Computer Aid International also offers a better and more productive lifestyle for them and for their families. Also, this association gives schools the means to provide students with disabilities with specialized vocational training. Through their partnership with Sightsavers International, they are specially equipped to help the visually impaired through a uniquely adapted screen and synthesized speech output.
Computers and cameras as well as other technologies are also provided to doctors, and they bring new and improved healthcare to even the most remote areas. Since Computer Aid International has intervened, thousands of previously inconspicuous conditions have been accurately diagnosed and treated promptly.
To donate your unwanted computers to help a noble cause, go to https://www.computeraid.org/donate.html to learn more.
– Anna Brailow
Sources: Computer Aid, Optimist World
Photo: Book Aid
Canada Increases Aid Given to Combat Child Marriages
Every minute, 28 girls around the world who are under the age of 18 are forced into marriage. Child marriage is one of the most serious human rights violations of today. An average of 15 million girls are annually forced to marry before they are of legal marriageable age, and the consequences can be severe. Child brides are more likely to face domestic violence, HIV/AIDS and complications during pregnancy. Some brides are able to escape their marriage, but are then forced to return to an abusive home because they are not able to survive on their own.
Although there are laws that prohibit child marriage, these marriages still persist for many reasons, including poverty and cultural traditions. Parents who are poor tend to try to marry their children off at an earlier age in order to have one less mouth to feed. Also, some countries still practice dowry-giving (in which the bride’s family has to give a present to a groom at the time of marriage). Since dowries are lower for younger brides, many families who feel the need to give a dowry try to marry their daughters off at a young age.
Luckily, there are programs in place that work to reduce the amount of child marriages taking place throughout the world. One of the main ways to help is to increase the amount of access to education that girls receive. Girls who are able to complete their education are more likely to be able to support themselves, and therefore less likely to be forced into marriage in order to survive. Educating communities also plays a large part in decreasing the number of child marriages which occur.
Canada has been an important player in the fight against early and forced marriages. As Girls Not Brides states, in 2013, Canada and Zambia co-led a U.N. Resolution to combat child, early and forced marriages. They are working to pass a second resolution by mid-November of 2015. Canada has also give $20 million to UNICEF in order to fight child marriage in Bangladesh, Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Gambia, Yemen and Zambia.
The Canadian Broadcasting Channel reports that on Wednesday, July 8, 2015, Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister announced that the government would give $10 million to end child, early and forced marriages worldwide. $2.3 million of that money is to go towards promoting education and skills training for girls in the Commonwealth countries, and the rest of the money is meant for local community groups, governments and NGOs which work to end child marriages.
This increase in funding is part of the Canadian Government’s Muskoka Initiative, a $3.5 billion pledge which focuses on maternal, child and newborn health. Eleven Canadian NGOs are going to share $180 million in the next five years in order to help with projects which address nutrition, sanitation, hygiene and health worker training.
Increasing aid is an important step towards making certain foreign affairs issues a priority. By giving money to fight child marriage, Canada reinforces just how important it is to end the human rights violation of forced marriages once and for all.
– Ashrita Rau
Sources: Yahoo News, Girls Not Brides 1, Girls Not Brides 2, CBC, UNICEF
Photo: Punch
67 Minutes App Commemorates Nelson Mandela
Uber has been making waves in the transportation wave recently, bringing quick access to rides in cities across the globe. There is a new app that is being deemed the Uber for charity called 67 Minutes.
67 Minutes was released on what is Mandela Day in South Africa – July 18, the great leader’s birthday. The app “is dedicated to helping people do at least 67 minutes of charitable work per year.”
The United Nations (UN) made July 18 Mandela Day officially in November of 2009 after Mandela declared, “It is time for new hands to lift the burdens. It is in your hands now,” in a speech on his birthday in 2008. The UN stated that the day was to be commemorated to acknowledge his dedication to service and his values, as well as his contribution to the struggle toward democracy and a culture of peace around the world.
According to the Nelson Mandela Foundation, the day is a celebration aimed “to serve as a global call to action for people to ‘recognize their individual power to make an imprint and help change the world around them for the better.’” The day’s overall purpose is to cement and remember Mandela’s legacy in continued action towards his ideals, instead of statues and museums.
The idea of 67 Minutes is based on the 67 years Mandela spent striving to improve the human rights of all South Africans. Each minute spent volunteering is meant to remember each year Mandela spent striving towards his goal of equal human rights for all. The app’s goal is to connect those that want to do good with charities and other organizations that can help them do just that.
Ninety-one charities and other organizations have registered with the app, including Amnesty International SA, CHOC, Nkosi’s Haven and Blind SA, to name a few.
Charles Burman of MD Digital Publications, the company that developed and published 67 Minutes, explained it this way: “67Minutes has been developed in such a way, that should you have a type of event in mind, a specific budget, or if you’re simply searching for ideas of how you can help based on your location, you can quickly and easily discover them.”
The app is free to download and it is also free for NGOs and charities to advertise themselves on. There is no regulation on what kind of project that charities can post, although it is the preference of Burman that projects be based around people giving their time, services or goods as opposed to monetary contributions.
To participate, simply download the app and start looking for something to do, just as you would download Uber and look for a ride. Individuals can surf the projects on the app by category or location before choosing one by hitting ‘participate.’ All that is needed is the number and information of the people participating.
Time will tell if 67 Minutes is an effective way for charities to help spread Nelson Mandela’s ideals across the globe. As of now, most of the efforts are concentrated in South Africa. With the spread of the app around the world, it could be a true force for good.
– Gregory Baker
Sources: South Africa, Media Update
Photo: Flickr
Child Labor in Vietnam
Over 1.75 million Vietnamese children, 9.6 percent of the population of people under 18 in the country, are laborers. Child Labor in Vietnam consists of children who are forced to work long hours, normally with little to no pay, in crowded factories or on agricultural farms. One third of the children work an average of 42 hours per week, and the majority are not able to attend school.
Labor trafficking — both domestically and internationally — is a major problem. As explained by a BBC report, trafficking gangs normally target rural villages, where they offer to take kids to cities in order to give them vocational training or technical skills. Parents normally agree because the people in these remote communities are not aware of the risks of human trafficking. Also, traffickers benefit from the “golden egg” culture of Vietnam, where children are sent to work abroad and send money back for the family.
Rather than receiving vocational training, the children taken from rural villages are forced to work, some in factories, some in domestic labor and others in agricultural labor. BBC discussed the case of Hieu (who declined to give his real name), an 18-year-old boy who was taken from the rural village of Dien Bien. Dien Bien is in the northwest, on the border of Vietnam and China. It is one of the poorest areas in the country.
Hieu was put into a small room, where he and the 11 other kids taken from his village were forced to work from 6 a.m. until midnight. They received no pay, and were beaten with a stick if they made a mistake. Hieu was finally able to escape when he and two other teenage boys jumped out the third story window at 1 a.m. Hieu has since been helped by the Blue Dragon Foundation, a Vietnamese-based charity that works to help child trafficking victims, and is now training to be a mechanic.
Groups like the Blue Dragon Foundation are making a difference. The foundation itself has rescued over 230 child trafficking victims since 2005. However, child trafficking continues to remain an issue in Vietnam, and Blue Dragon co-founder Michael Brosowski explained that it is likely getting worse because people are realizing how lucrative it can be.
Vietnam has been praised for its efforts to crack down on child trafficking internationally, since it has increased the number of prosecutions it holds to help end overseas gang activity. However, Vietnam’s control of child trafficking within the country itself needs to increase. Internal trafficking only became officially recognized in 2011, and traffickers are normally not given harsh punishments. The person who trafficked Hieu and the 11 other children from Dien Bien was fined $500 and his factory was closed down, but he did not go to court.
Part of the confusion over what sort of punishment must be given those who traffic internally in Vietnam stems from the fact that some child laborers are paid. While they are normally paid only a small amount, some argue that if a child who is poor, does not have enough to eat and had dropped out of school goes to a factory and gets paid, it is not necessarily a bad thing.
While there is still debate over trafficking within Vietnam, it has been more firmly established that trafficking Vietnamese children internationally needs to be stopped. As The Guardian said, one of the major destinations for traffickers who send Vietnamese children abroad to work is Britain, where over 3000 children are sent to work on cannabis farms, in nail bars, garment factories, brothels or in domestic labor. In order to combat this influx, in March of 2015, the UK passed a bill designed to increase the prosecution of traffickers and give more rights to those sent into modern slavery. However, some Vietnamese children who are sent to the UK and forced to work in cannabis cultivation are prosecuted for their actions, while their traffickers are not.
In recent years, a lot has been done in order to stop child labor within Vietnam and to stop the flow of Vietnamese children who are being trafficked into modern slavery around the world. However, in order to continue the fight against child labor and human trafficking, laws have to be more strictly enforced and clear conditions have to be set about how to punish those who traffic internally.
– Ashrita Rau
Sources: BBC, The Guardian 1, The Guardian 2, Stop Child Labor: The Child Labor Coalition, Vietnam: The US Embassy, International Labour Organization
Photo: Sapa Trek
India on the Verge of Eliminating Malaria
The population of India is over 1.2 billion. It is only second behind China in terms of population, but has some of the poorest living conditions of any country of the world. Open sewages are the perfect breeding ground for malaria carrying mosquitos throughout the country.
The center for disease control reports that malaria is located in all areas throughout the country including major metropolitan cities such as Mumbai and Delhi. According to the World Health Organization, 95 percent of the Indian population live in malaria endemic areas, and 75 percent of all cases of Malaria in South East Asia are reported in India.
Yet, despite the odds, India has been pushing to end malaria, and may be very close to realizing that goal.
According to WHO, India had over 883,00 cases of malaria in 2013. The number was 2 million in the previous years, thus halving the numbers that were recorded throughout the early 2000s. And that trend is continuing.
The Indian National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme (NVBDCP) has been leading the charge and have been utilizing efficient and successful tactics to combat the spread of malaria. The first and foremost is early case detection and prompt treatment.
Dr. A C Dhariwal, the Director of the NVBDCP, said how, “Through rapid diagnostic tests, artemisinin-based combination therapy, long lasting insecticidal nets and indoor residual spraying, we’ve been able to bring down the rates of malaria and reduce the number of deaths.”
The program also has four phases to end malaria: control, pre-elimination, elimination and prevention of reintroduction. Both treatment strategy and the phase strategy are results of the NVBDCP implementing all the tools the World Health Organization recommended to India to fight malaria.
The country is currently on phase two of pre-elimination and is targeting rural villages and communities where the population is at least 1000 citizens. In order to complete this phase, India has to achieve an annual parasite incident (AP) of less than 1 per 1000 in all districts within all states. Currently India is at 74 percent and steadily climbing.
Many of the people who are carrying out the effort are women. The Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has deployed more than 900,000 female volunteers throughout the country. These women are chosen from their local communities and are trained in administrating early detection and treatment protocols.
If all goes well, India plans to reach the elimination phase by 2017 and completely eradicate malaria by 2030. This would be right on track with world goals of reducing malaria by 90 percent the same year globally. Experts say that to reach the target, all countries must contribute a total of $100 billion to organizations fighting malaria. Key contributors include WHO, the United States, the United Kingdom and The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
The United States should allocate more aid towards aiding India fight Malaria. India is an ally and a strong economic partner to the U.S. A healthy India means more opportunities for U.S. goods to reach the world’s largest middle class population. That sounds like a healthy investment.
– Adnan Khalid
Sources: Center for Disease Control, National Vector Borne Disease Control Programme, United Nations, WHO 1, WHO 2
Photo: Columbia University Medical Center
How One Healthcare App is Changing Lives in Africa
Shimba Technologies, a mobile software developer based in Nairobi, is continuing to expand the reach and availability of its all-in-one healthcare app, MedAfrica, in an effort to expand access to online health services for all Africans.
Launched in November 2011, MedAfrica was recognized as a Top 10 mobile app in Demo.com’s app competition in Silicon Valley. The app had more than 70,000 users by March 2012, and currently sees more than one thousand downloads every day. Intended to provide access to health information among Africa’s most vulnerable people, MedAfrica provides access to consultation with certified medical practitioners, scheduling with local medical facilities, drug services, and symptoms monitoring.
“Our mission is to increase access to health related content and services to save lives and build a healthy population, our target being to reach every household in Africa”, said Jackline Cheruiyot, MedAfrica team leader at Shimba Technologies. “If the current pace of adoption in Kenya is any indication, such a target is no pipe dream.”
According to the World Health Organization, 37 percent of Africans currently reside in urban areas, meaning the majority of people live in rural areas lacking substantially developed social infrastructure. While the proportion of urban residents is expected to increase to 53 percent by 2030, the vast majority of city-dwellers in sub-Saharan Africa live in slums, where access to health services is lacking and the high population density increases the spread of communicable disease.
“A significant share of ill health in slums stems from poor access to sanitation and clean drinking water. In 2000, 30-50% of African urban dwellers lacked a safe water supply”, writes Brodie Ramin, a Professor of Health at the University of Ottowa. “Flooded areas and ditches, latrines and septic tanks are key reservoirs that perpetuate cholera, malaria, dengue and yellow fever in urban areas. Infectious disease outbreaks are also precipitated by the high population density found in these areas, with overcrowding triggering epidemic-prone infections like pertussis and influenza.”
As of 2009, per-capita spending on health services in Africa was $83, less than two percent of average spending in high-income countries. With health spending generally stagnant throughout the region, the availability of online health services will become more and more significant for Africans living in moderate to extreme poverty. Between 2000 and 2012, the number of Internet users throughout Africa grew more than 3,600 percent to 167 million. Self-diagnosis of noncommunicable disease (such as hypertension, heart disease, diabetes and stroke) will become increasingly possible as Internet access pervades urban populations.
“Affordable access [to Internet] is no longer a luxury”, said connectivity advocate Steve Song in an interview with Africa in Fact magazine. “It is a tide that raises all ships. It creates efficiencies at every level from the rural farmer to the large corporation…It can enable better healthcare, better education, better services all round. And perhaps most importantly, it opens the doors to innovation, to new ideas and new opportunities for everyone.”
Increased access to online healthcare products like MedAfrica can also remove the need for low-income people to physically attend medical facilities and pay for in-person consultation, activities which carry high opportunity costs with respect to time and wages. The more quickly and effectively a person can access medical advice or diagnoses, the more time and money they can invest in activities that generate income for themselves, their families, and their communities.
As access to services like MedAfrica becomes more ubiquitous, healthcare in Africa will continue to become increasingly efficient. Medical facilities will be better able to focus resources on non-preventable disease, and people in urban populations will be better equipped to confront the medical conditions that pervade their communities. The WHO estimates that improvements to healthcare access could increase the life expectancy of at-risk Africans up to ten years, a prerequisite for economic growth and an indicator of increasingly friendly conditions for private investment. These improvements are auspicious for potential American investment in African healthcare markets as well as at-risk African people as a whole.
– Zach VeShancey
Sources: African Business Review, MedAfrica, All Countries, WHO, UN, NCBI
Photo: Flickr