MOBIKLINIC

MOBIKLINIC UGANDA LIMITED

MOBIKLINIC

Laveraging a digital safetynet for community bassed monitoring of antimicrobials

Kampala, Uganda

UGA

Nonprofit

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Substandard and falsified (SF) antimicrobial drugs are a major contributor to antimicrobial resistance (AMR), particularly in low-resource settings like Uganda. In many Ugandan communities, people first seek care from community health providers (CHPs), who rely on symptoms like fever to guide treatment. However, CHPs lack tools to identify ineffective or substandard drugs, leading to prolonged illness, treatment failure, and potential spread of resistant infections. Globally, the WHO estimates that 1 in 10 medical products in low- and middle-income countries are substandard or falsified. In Uganda, diseases like malaria and typhoid are commonly treated with antimicrobials, yet up to 30% of these may be ineffective due to poor quality or storage. Additionally, drug stockouts in community and hospital pharmacies are frequent, forcing patients to buy from informal sources where the risk of SF drugs is higher. Our solution addresses this by enabling CHPs to track symptoms like persistent fever to flag potentially substandard drugs and using this data to power prediction models for drug stock needs. This approach improves drug quality monitoring and supports timely, effective treatment at the community level.

The MobiKlinic Digital Safety Net is a community-driven digital tool that empowers Community Health Providers (CHPs) to track and improve the quality of antimicrobial treatment at the grassroots level—across humans, animals, and the environment, following the One Health approach. CHPs use a mobile app to record data on treatments given to people and animals (through local vets), and continue to monitor symptoms like fever, discharge, or wounds. If symptoms persist, they report the drug or brand as possibly ineffective. This real-time data allows the system to compare drug performance across communities. The platform uses this information to: • Predict disease outbreaks in specific areas, • Advise pharmacies on which drugs to stock or avoid based on local treatment outcomes, • And improve early detection of substandard drugs, reducing AMR risks. By linking symptom persistence, drug usage, and pharmacy inventory trends, MobiKlinic Uganda seeks to bridge the data gap between community-level care and pharmaceutical supply chains—empowering CHPs, reducing the use of poor-quality antimicrobials, and ultimately contributing to the global fight against AMR.

Target Population Our solution directly serves rural and peri-urban communities in Uganda, where access to quality healthcare and veterinary services is limited. The primary beneficiaries are: Community Health Providers (CHPs) and village veterinary workers, who are the first point of care for both people and animals. Low-income families, who rely on local health workers and informal pharmacies for treatment. Smallholder farmers, who depend on healthy livestock for food security and income. These communities are currently underserved due to: Limited access to diagnostic tools. High risk of receiving substandard or falsified drugs. Frequent drug stockouts and poor treatment outcomes. Lack of real-time data to guide treatment and stock decisions. The MobiKlinic Digital Safety Net equips CHPs with a mobile tool to track treatment effectiveness, report persistent symptoms, and flag ineffective drugs. It empowers them to contribute valuable data for predicting disease trends and informing pharmacy inventory decisions. By integrating One Health principles, the solution supports human, animal, and environmental health, reducing antimicrobial resistance and improving access to effective, timely care.