Increasing access to fast and affordable home based primary health care services in Africa

With a short USSD code, community members can register, pay, and request the nearest registered CHWs to administer home based Primary Care Services and health screenings such as coronavirus. Health Workers: Are directly connected to people who need their services. They generate an income for themselves for each patient they visit – promoting social entrepreneurship by providing health care to community and financial benefits for health workers. HCM is the first service of its kind to offer semi-urban, urban, and rural Nigerian patients an alternative to the high prices and long wait times of the existing health care system. HCM has the potential to transform patient access to care and positively impact health outcomes, health care worker incomes and economic development. With HealthCare Mobile, we've been able to cast a wide reach via our USSD platform and thus allows us to interact with all kinds of patients seeking a wide range of services. A perfect use case for this the ability to reach patients in hard to reach areas who are victims of Gender Base Violence. Our platform provides our patients with the ease of connecting with a CHW who provides counseling services on Gender Based Violence and directs them to appropriate resources. Also, HealthCare Mobile allows patients to access their previous appointment history via our USSD platform. This arose from the inability of underserved populations to access their medical records due to cost and inadequate infrastructure. Thus, experiencing a prevalence of preventable diseases and inability to track emerging diseases in their families. It is our hope that this feature will promote preventative health practices, ultimately reducing the prevalence of easily treatable diseases. In response to COVID-19, we have added new features on the platform that allow registered users to: 1) Receive daily updates on COVID-19 via SMS messaging 2) Anonymously report suspected symptoms of COVID-19 to health official for assistance 3) Receive information on test and isolation centers in the area

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Problem

Many individuals lack access to primary health services especially in semi-urban, poor urban, and rural parts of Africa, reflecting a structural social inequality that cuts across geography and income. This is due to: inadequate health facilities, high medical cost, poor infrastructure, and lack of job opportunities for community health workers. Specifically in Nigeria, there are approximately 700,000 registered CHWs and 75% of them are underutilized due to lack of employment opportunities.

Solution

HCM employs a systems thinking approach that leverages low fidelity technology - USSD (input) coupled with employment of CHWs (input) to increase access to affordable home based primary health care (output). Thus reducing the amount of time and money spent on transportation, and primary care at secondary and tertiary medical facilities (outcome) ultimately transforming patient access to care, positively impacting health outcomes, health care worker incomes and economic development (impact)

The Team Behind the Innovation

Our team has contextual, educational and professional experience, and prepared to dedicate their lives to providing access to primary health care in Africa. Jennie CEO - systems engineer who brings 5 years of consulting experience in the health and technology sector. Lucky CTO - recent graduate software developer based in Nigeria with 7 years of experience building tech solutions for clients in Nigeria. Blessing COO - Community Health Officer with 6 years of experience working in both private and public health institutions across Nigeria.

EXECUTIVE TEAM INCLUDES WOMEN AND YOUTH

	Funding Goal	500,000
	Projected Cumulative Lives Impacted	172,000,000
	New Implemented Countries	Ghana, Ethiopia, Senegal, Tanzania
	Recruit	500 CHWs, 4 board members, co-founder, mentor
	New Feature	AI driven tool that use geocodes from USSD messages for disease surveillance, Sponsor a CHW initiative for MNO's with last mile distribution initiatives.