The quality of Nigerian healthcare system is considered poor by many people. From unprofessional health personnel to lack of equipment, many Nigerians have died and are still dying needless deaths over the failure of this sector.
Thankfully, some Nigerians are making a difference in the healthcare system of the country with their startup companies. Today, we will be talking about some of the tech startups making an impact in the country’s healthcare space.
LIFEBANK
LifeBank is a healthcare technology and logistics company based in Lagos. It is a health startup that facilitates the transmission of blood from labs across the country to patients and doctors in hospitals.
The founder, Temie Giwa-Tubosun set up her organization to tackle the problem of blood shortage in Nigeria, following the experience from the complication of her first childbirth.
Recently, she won the sum of $250,000 for her startup, as the winner of Alibaba Group’s co-founder, Jack Ma, under the Africa Netprener Prize Initiative.
FLYING DOCTORS NIGERIA
Flying Doctors Nigeria Limited is a medical emergency service that specializes in air ambulance, medevac, remote site medical solutions, and infrastructural development and training.
Dr. Ola Orekunrin, the founder of FDN, started her company after her sister; a sickle cell patient became very ill on holiday while staying with relatives in Nigeria.
The local hospital was unable to manage her condition, so, Dr. Orekunrin and her family started searching for an air ambulance so that she could safely and quickly get to a suitable medical facility.
Unfortunately, they couldn’t get one in the country. The nearest one was five hours away in South Africa and by the time the logistics was arranged, Dr. Orekunrin’s sister had died of her condition.
MOBicure
MOBicure is a digital health company that provides mobile technology solutions to some of the most pressing healthcare problems plaguing Nigeria and Africa.
Their products are myPaddi and OMOMi app.
myPaddi app provides young people with access to accurate, unbiased and youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health information, while ensuring they remain totally anonymous. The app also connects young people to health professionals in a real-time chat.
Omomi app provides pregnant women and mothers with access to life-saving maternal and child health information, as well as access to doctors at the touch of a button.
MEDSAF
Medsaf is an enterprise medication supply chain management solution for hospitals and pharmacies. They provide quality control as a service and reduce cost.
The e-health startup makes sure that the process of buying and selling medication in the country’s complex health system is easy and safe.
Vivian Nwakah, the CEO and co-founder of Medsaf started her company when a close friend died after taking fake malaria medication.
GenRx
GenRx is an online pharmacy inventory application and their flagship product is AGCNigeria. The app detects drugs close to expiration among drug stock; they detect drug overdose before drug is dispensed to patient and also detect wrong drug combinations before drug is dispensed to patient.
UBENWA
Ubenwa is a social venture aiming to save newborn lives through low-cost, cry-based diagnostic technology powered by AI. The mobile application analyses a baby’s cry to detect early signs of abnormalities which could be fatal such as asphyxia or brain-injury.
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