Medical entrepreneurs have called for innovative strategies to combat the problem of universal access to health care in African.
Dr. Yetunde Ayo-Oyalowo and Dr. Funmi Adewara, who are both female inventors of accessible healthcare services, made this call, emphasing on the need for solutions that are affordable, easy-to-reach, sustainable and efficient to solve the challenges in the healthcare sector.
Dr. Funmi Adewara, who is the founder of Mobihealth International, stated that Nigeria and Africa needs access to healthcare services, adding that community-based solutions and technology could be leveraged to get to the least reached areas.
“As we move forward on the path of development, Nigeria and Africa’s ability to create sustainable and efficient access to health care will depend largely on its capacity to invent, deploy and scale up solutions that are sensitive and appropriate for individuals and local communities.
“Mobihealth’s innovate initiatives has been commended by the United Nations as an inclusive and sustainable healthcare solution and recently won the World Bank SDGs Award 2020 amongst 2400 contestants globally, a first time win for Nigeria,” Adewara said
Ayo-Oyalowo, who is the founder of Market Doctors, a company that provides affordable basic medical services to Nigeria’s underserved population, said an innovative way was needed to solve the problem of universal access to health care in Africa.
The journey time to the facility, the time they will spend seeing the doctor, having tests, going to the pharmacy; they don’t want to lose their income for that day. So, what were are trying to do is to put all of these together, reduce the overhead, bundle healthcare into their shopping bags as they come to the market.
“The way our services works is being able to convert any space into a clinic by either using a mobile truck or even a health worker with a backpack. We have reached over 180,000 people. Market Doctors is going to be the game-changer in health care in Africa.” she stated
The initiative is designed for ordinary people who do not have access to health care.
