By Julias Nkunda. Entrepreneurs in the health sector of Africa are optimistic that information technology may become the trigger in transforming the way health care is delivered in the continent.
However, this will require access to the internet; short of that, delivering health care services through digital solutions will remain a distant dream. According to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), only 22 percent of Africa’s population has access to the internet.
Access to the internet is much lower among poor and rural households considering IFC statistic, which means the majority of Africans will not be part of the new innovation.
The challenge of internet access occupied a significant time of health experts, entrepreneurs in digital solutions for health, and government officials sharing ideas on how this is going to work out. This was at the launch of Health Tech Hub Africa in Kigali-Rwanda over the weekend.
However, other technologies like the use of Drones were identified. Dr. Daniel Ngamije Rwanda’s Minister of Health says they have been using Drones to deliver health messages and medicines in rural communities where there is limited access to the internet, and this can be adopted across Africa.
Novartis and Norrsken Foundations are leading the health technology initiative through the African Hub in Kigali to focus on tools that will help in the fight against heart disease, breast cancer, and in developing virtual medical consultations.
These non-communicable diseases (NCDs) and others are said to be on the rise in sub-Saharan Africa. According to a study by The Lancet Global Health, from 1990 to 2017 NCDs in the region increased by 67%, and this has posed a big challenge to the already weak health systems.
Dr. Ann Aerts, Head of the Novartis Foundation stresses the importance of setting up the East African hub and tackling growing chronic conditions such as cancer and heart disease.
“We hope the technologies developed at the HealthTech Hub Africa will make a real difference to accelerate detection and access to quality care for chronic diseases.” She said.
The Novartis Foundation has been involved in finding solutions to health care challenges in low-income populations through the use of digital technologies as well as artificial Intelligence as alternatives for providing health care in the world.
The launch of The Health Tech Hub Africa was also used to award selected startups from the region working in cardiovascular health, breast cancer, and virtual care that will be hosted at the hub. Thirty African start-ups will be hosted at the Norrsken House in Kigali, and the top five winners of the startups’ competition receive grants worth USD 85,000 for developing health technologies.
Rwanda’s Insightiv emerged as the front-runner of other top ten entrepreneurs who submitted startup projects from Uganda, Nigeria, Cameroon, Ghana, and Rwanda.
The winning startup will use cutting-edge technology, which will enable health workers to virtually diagnose faster some of the high risk diseases, and provide treatment in a timely manner.
The founder of Insightiv-Rwanda, Audace Nakeshimana noted that in his country, and Africa in general, there are few radiologists which is a big challenge to healthcare, and believes that the innovation will transform access to some of those healthcare services that are out of reach to many patients.
Internet access across Africa is said to be improving steadily, and a significant number of Africa’s population own mobile phones. Mobile phones have been vital during the Covid-19 pandemic because many owners received messages concerning the pandemic, and it is believed that they will play a bigger role in the health technology revolution among those who have no access to the internet.
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