MyAfya

It is estimated that nearly half Kenyan adults have raised blood pressure. Only 20 % are aware of their hypertensive status and only about 20% of them seek medical control. Most High Blood Pressure patients in Kenya are caught unaware despite a survey which established that Africa has highest hypertension prevalence of 46 percent globally where nearly one in three African adults is a victim.

MyAfya aims at reaching out to high blood pressure patients in Kenya by raising awareness and making screening services available and more affordable. Our solution is a combination of an app and a device that improves disease control and medication adherence for patients with hypertension.

We believe that no kid should be an orphan, no woman should be a widow and no man should be a widower because of a disease that is preventable and manageable.

It is estimated that nearly half Kenyan adults have raised blood pressure with the majority of them being men making it one of the highest prevalence rates across Africa. Only 20 % are aware of their hypertensive status and only about 20% of them seek medical control. Most High Blood Pressure patients in Kenya are caught unaware by the disease despite a survey which established that Africa has highest hypertension prevalence of 46 percent globally where nearly one in three African adults is a victim.

High blood pressure is most common problem in the country leading to blood vessel and eye damage, heart failure, stroke, kidney failure because it has no symptoms for early detection. Most victims are completely unaware of the disease and much sensitization is needed. Many of those examined had been living with the condition unknowingly given the nature of the hypertension being asymptomatic. The number of people developing high blood pressure in the country is on an upward trajectory, largely attributed to unhealthy lifestyle.

We focus on the rural populations which have been shown to generally be more advanced in age, less obese, have lower incomes, higher use of smokeless tobacco products, be less educated, more active, and to have a higher prevalence of malnutrition. Lower hypertension prevalence in rural African populations have been attributed to lifestyle factors, such as increased daily exercise as a result of their work requirements compared to the slightly more sedentary lifestyles of urban populations. Increased adoption of a westernized diet has had a strong influence on both urban and rural populations and prevalence rates in rural areas are quickly increasing to match those of urban centers.

We involve Community Health Volunteers (CHVs) who are members of the community and are chosen by community members to provide basic health and medical care to their communities. CHVs find it easier to communicate with the community and gain trust from their patients; they can enhance cultural relevance of health materials and information; they may be able to shape the healthcare system to suit their community needs and they can be cost-effective extensions of the health system.

Our solution is a combination of an app and a device. Through it they are able to measure, track, keep trends in check and share such data with the relevant caregivers. MyAfya teaches and equips the CHVs with tools and information to create and increase awareness on hypertension. The CHVs sensitize the community members on the importance of screening, refer patients suspected of having hypertension to the nearest health facility, promote adherence and to deliver.

 We ensure routine and standardized hypertension and prehypertension screening. However, most people in the rural areas have to travel long distances to access a health facility. Working with CHVs not only improves knowledge on hypertension but also acts as link to the existing public health facilities thus creating synergy. The CHVs conduct bi-monthly screenings in their communities thus encouraging people to have regular checkups.

Using the app, we are able to map out all cases of hypertension in the area and link them to the nearest health facility for disease management. For the patients under medication we are able to get reminders and organize for drugs delivery. Upskilling the CHVs ensures they’re properly trained to handle emergencies that may occur in their respective villages.

Our solution is a combination of an app and a device. Home testing is still a pretty new concept and we are breaking the stereotype that people can only get health services in a hospital setting. Making the devices easily accessible through the community health volunteers ensures we reach all people right from the grassroots. With the  app available for free at playstore we ensure that everyone has a digital tool that can give a medical history whenever need arises. We are using a data driven approach by mapping out all the hypertension patients in the region since we believe the reason why the government is not allocating a fair budget for the NCDs is because they don't get the urgency of the situation.

In addition, we have found the perfect balance for private public partnerships by working with the CHV who act as a link between us and the existing health systems. we are the first company in the country to tackle high blood pressure from the grassroots upward.

One of the biggest obstacle in the country at the moment is proper health records. Every health facility works as a unit which means one patient can have multiple medical files all over the country. Our application helps the patient to always have his/her vital medical records everywhere. This helps the doctors to make evidence-based decisions.

Through the app, patients are also able to record,track,keep trends in check and have medication reminders. In the upcoming version, caregivers will be able to remotely track the well being of their loved ones from anywhere in the region.

In the recent years, there have been increased cases of heart attack and strokes and other CVD related illnesses. There's therefore a genuine interest from the community members on learning what they can do to ensure they are safe. We have so far reached out and screened over 5000 users. Approximately 30% of these have had raised high blood pressure. We have been able to successfully connect 237 users to health facilities for advanced follow ups.

Working with CHVs will help us make more follow up to ensure that the 30% with raised blood pressure attend clinics and make follow up with their doctors. In addition, with the bi-monthly screening they offer the community members an avenue to regularly check their pressure and get any advice from a trained professional.

We currently have 1680 registered users, 353 regular users in the application, we have reached out to 5188 people so far during our outreaches and have sold 530 digital blood pressure monitors.

We hope to have reached 4,000 users  and 1000 regular users in the next one year. With the amazing line up of upcoming events we hope to have reached out to over 10,000 during outreaches.

In the next 5 years we hope to have set up base all over the country. Our target is to reach out to 8 million people and have 500,000 active users in our platform

Our ultimate goal is to come up with an affordable wearable device that can monitor the vitals 24/7 and synchronize with our app. This will ensure that we get actionable  up to date data.

In the next five years, we will be uniquely positioned to actively lobby the government to allocate more funds for the CVDs.

We have also built our platform in a way that is easily replicable to all other NCDs and we hope to be the one stop shop for people with non- communicable diseases.

One of the greatest barrier is our financial capacity. We have major expansion plans that brings along additional expenses in terms of infrastructure and human resource. We also need to invest heavily in R &D to ensure we have products that are not only easily accessible to our users but also affordable.

There's also a lot of bureacracy when dealing with public facilities which leads to slow implementation which might delay the achievement of our goals

We have started applying for grants from donors in a bid to increase our financial capacities. We are also actively seeking out partnerships with other large organizations.

We have decided to take a bottom up approach when dealing with the government as the alternative will take far much longer.

We have are a team of 11, 4 full time, 3 part time and 4 contractors

The team has various training and experience that is necessary to run the company. We have team members with excellent people skills whose role is in engaging the users in the grassroots, training in social entrepreneurship,community development and clinical health experience.

Jackline is the team leader and is a Bachelor of Economics graduate from The University of Nairobi, YALI fellow and an Acumen fellow with more than five years’ experience in business management and social enterprises management. She’s also a Business Skills Immersion graduate, a program that is run by Deloitte to ensure start-ups scale to profitability. 

Kelvin is a counselor and BSC Education graduate. He’s a man of many hats and has experience in community engagement and development, crisis management and field sales. 

Victor is the lead software developer with over 4 years experience building both web and mobile applications.

Nurse Irene is a lead nurse at Kenyatta national Hospital and has many years experience handling high blood pressure patients. She is the lead ground healthcare provider

CORE COMPETENCIES

We are brought together with a common vision to help improve the wellbeing of our users. The lead team has prior experience and training that will help them execute their roles efficiently.

 We are also receiving mentorship from experts in the market to ensure we run a successful pilot.

Kleva Solutions

Kleva Solutions is a leading technology firm in the country. They developed the first version of our website and their technology software is  what powers part of our application. They also provide technical assistance and give guidance on the right technology for our ever evolving service.

 Green Nettle Textiles

Green Nettle Textiles produces eco fibres from stinging nettle.  They have a large network of farmers group in the country.  They have been very instrumental in community reach out especially in the rural areas. MyAfya conducts regular community outreaches through them as This is one of the ways they ensure that the farmers they’ve engaged make informed health choices.

Garden of hope foundation

Garden of hope foundation  is a Nonprofit organization that is passionate about restoring hope to undeserved youth, children, women and girls from urban slums and rural communities through providing mentorship, leadership and youth empowerment.  

Together, we go to the less travelled areas to reach out to the youths and women in the region. MyAfya conducts free vital check ups during these outreaches and conducts trainings on how to live a healthier life using what is already available.

We enable people with high blood pressure to manage their condition better. We have a subscription model that enables users to measure, track and keep trends in check. We also sell digital pressure monitors in a bid to build and  strengthen the culture of home testing.

We are currently making grant applications to raise capital. We also have some revenue from the sale of our products and services. Overtime, we expect to have a subscription model from our users which will ensure sustainability of the company.

we are still a small company with a very ambitious dream and hope to get networks and connections that will help achieve our goals.

Omron 

Our approach is supported by a point of care technology for the health workers that improves access to services, promotion of prevention and referral to appropriate care services. In addition, we are able to create informal support groups that promote peer learning and break the stereotype that care can only be given in a hospital setting.

Working with Community Health Volunteers ensures progress in several SDG areas such as gender, health, education, and employment. This is because they are mostly women and intentional focus on upskilling them has major effect on other SDGs, in Africa investing in women gives positive results as they are able to pass down the information to their family and community members.