With the continuing proliferation of mobile devices, there is an increasing opportunity to solve most of our common problems, especially with the right applications. Now it is almost becoming common cliché to say that “there is an app for everything”. Well that is a plus especially for a sector like Health which does a lot to improve the lives and well being of people. This is the more reason why our highlight app for this week in the Apps developed in Africa series is MedAfrica.
Overview
MedAfrica is a mobile medical directory and knowledge app, based in Kenya. With the dearth of doctors in a country like Kenya, where just about 7000 doctors have to cater to the health of over 40 Million people. It became increasingly pertinent to develop alternative solutions, which would be complementary to the ones on ground if the country was to make necessary progress in dealing with its medical issues.
Peculiar Problem It Solves
In Africa, it is quite common place to find quacks posing as real medical practitioners. There is also the issue of fake drugs and not being able to verify authenticity. The application-MedAfrica provides relevant solutions to such problems, by including some major features which help to verify the status of practitioners, and the quality of drugs, among other things.
Essence / Unique Feature
The application helps to improve access to the right doctors, even while providing a knowledge base on the sides, which helps to educate patients as to what symptoms they might be dealing with. It also pairs users with relevant specialists, helping to curb fraud and malpractice in the process, especially through its up-to-date lists of licensed medical professionals.
Value Proposition
MedAfrica was developed in Kenya by Shimba Technologies Ltd – founded by Stephen Kyalo and Keziah Mumo, with the aid of a $100,000 seed funding from a European venture capitalist firm. The whole idea behind it was the desire to improve the health of communities and regions in which it operates. This it hopes to achieve with the MedAfrica application, by increasing access to health care related information and content to the teeming masses that need it, not just in Kenya alone, but eventually in all of Africa, and other places where the app finds relevance.
With MedAfrica you could do the following: locate a hospital within your vicinity, get drug information and authenticate a drug, monitor symptoms, and further get linked to a medical practitioner who can help with such a condition.
According to their website “MedAfrica is a Medical Services Content Platform that seeks to create health awareness among consumers from the comfort of their mobile phones. It also seeks to increase interaction and purposeful engagement between health practitioners and consumers of their services.”
In the future, Shimba plans to add a data feed from the national Ministry of Health to give people real-time information on disease outbreaks and reports of counterfeit drug-making. MedAfrica currently runs on a number of platforms including Android and Java.
Potential Coverage
As indicated earlier, the proposition to improve health cuts across all of Africa, and much of the developing world. Even with the right additions and a few tweaks, the MedAfrica application has the potential for adoption and relevant use globally.
Critique
The name might have to change, to ensure the application achieves its full potential, even outside of the African continent. It must be noted that it was initially called MedKenya. Also, with the impact and growing relevance of the application, it is hoped that it would soon be available on other platforms such as iOS, Blackberry and Windows.
Conclusion
The MedAfrica application won the first prize in the Company Category of the worldwide 2012 Ericsson Application competition held in Stockholm, Sweden. The €15,000-award was in recognition of specific merits such as: marketability, “Technology for Good” assessment, a hit factor, financial sustainability, and market strategy.
