WellNewMe

Helping to Build A Healthier Society

According to the WHO by 2030, the deaths from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) will surpass those from infectious diseases in Sub-Saharan Africa with significant huge socioeconomic consequences.

In some African countries like Nigeria, 1 in  3 adults suffer from hypertension; a sizeable proportion  remain  undiagnosed and only about 10% of those diagnosed are actively having their blood pressure controlled. A similar story can be found with diabetes which currently afflicts 10% of the population and is expected to double in the next 10 years.

It is estimated that NCDs account for 68% of global mortality. In September 2015, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development adopted at the United Nations Summit on Sustainable Development in September 2015, recognised NCDs as a major challenge for sustainable development. 

NCDs include diseases such as cardiovascular disease and Stroke and are characterised by being associated with risk factors that can be avoided.  In fact, 70% of NCDs can be prevented by addressing these risk factors such that WHO in recent document has called for a series of ‘best-buy’ interventions targeted at reducing NCD risk.

Identifying and ameliorating the likelihood of developing NCDs is a key component to changing the future for NCD outcomes in communities. WellNewMe seeks to do this through our uniquely designed online platform and low cost solar-powered kiosks manned by our “lifestyle assessors”, who are specially trained frontline health workers (FHWs).

The lifestyle assessors are able to assess the health risks of individuals through the platform which uses an algorithm approach that spans physical, psychosocial and environmental domains and provide advice on all the key drivers of well-being, health and productivity.

The expansion of health services in under-served communities, who already have a weakened health system, are necessary to meet the ambitious vision set of forth for NCDs in the SDGs and the Global Action Plan, will require more trained and supported FHWs.

Available data indicate that FHWs can have a positive impact on the prevention, management, and control of NCDs. Existing research demonstrates that FHWs who have appropriate training, supervision, and support can carry out a range of activities to help prevent, control, and manage NCDs.

These activities include raising awareness and promoting healthy behaviours, conducting screenings of individuals and households at risk; monitoring symptoms; administering and managing medication; providing referrals to a health facility; and supporting follow-up after acute events, providing follow up monitoring and care; and tracking health outcomes.

Our solution when deployed in underserved areas allows for task shifting where we can train people in a shorter period and requiring fewer qualifications than the more qualified health workers found in health centres as the bulk of the work will be done by the platform.

This allows more efficient use of the available human resources for health as we can employ, train and deploy health workers alongside our kiosks within underserved communities to push our major goal of reducing the rate of early deaths from NCDs and the socioeconomic burden it causes. 

Our solution detects and stratifies individual health risks and makes specific recommendations for preventive health activity for each individual.  In addition, through the use of data analytics and iterative feedback loops, users have the opportunity to continually get feedback in real-time with respect to their health status and therefore appropriate action plans for change. Algorithm based methods also allow for flexibility and the ability to tailor the content to the needs of the clients. With that our clients fall into four groups – communities, employers, insurance companies and health enthusiasts.

Our solution is web-based and can be accessed via personal internet-enabled devices. We will collect individual information: subjective and objective to be entered into a handheld device. The data entered is analysed by algorithms on the platform and the risk information is fed back to the individual in real-time. Health advice and recommendations based on the each individual’s health profile are subsequently sent by email or SMS periodically.

Our goal over the next 12 months is to be operational in about 20 local communities within Nigeria and at least two communities in Ghana and South Africa. Due to the large number of people we plan to serve in the coming years, we are also hope to have incorporated blockchain into our solution to not only enhance the security of the data we will be holding but also enable payments for services due micro health insurance.

Our goal within the next 3 - 5 years is to have engage as many as 3-4 million people through our platform and provide tailored advice on the lifestyle modifications need to reduce the risks of NCDs or reduce the effects of the complications of NCDs for those already afflicted. Our low cost approach through our lifestyle pods strategically located in underserved communities will make it easier for people to access quality preventive health services, and through our relationships with established health providers we can proactively provide referral services to high risk cases.

Our solution will be deployed via a web and mobile app. However for the underserved communities, we plan on deploying lifestyle pods, which are standalone, solar powered kiosks where our staff will collect and enter data via handheld devices. The pods will be strategically located so as to be within walking distance for most of the individuals in the communities we are operating in. 

We will run loyalty and incentivisation programmes to not only promote and encourage healthy behaviours but also build a relationship with our clientele.

We currently have currently 8,000 registered on our platform through our employee wellbeing programme where we engage the employees of companies to assess their risks of developing NCDs as well as it affects their productivity.

We are looking at serving people 50,000 within the next 12 months and 3 million by the end of year 3. Our target population is are adults in both rural and urban settings. We will expect to see a decrease in the rate of premature morbidity that arises as a result of NCDs as people making better lifestyle choices as a result of the advice they have received via engagement with our platform.

Within our team of 5, we have three medical doctors, one data analyst, software engineer and health informatician, two business school alum, a health policy expert and family medicine consultant and a fintech specialist.

Collectively we have the following the skills we believe that are needed to succeed

• Order and organization
• Negotiation and problem solving
• Strong sense of ethics
• Intellectual curiosity
• Adaptability
• Coding knowledge
• Strong written and communication skills
• Analytical skills
• Creative skills
• Proven success
• Self-management
• Relevant financial experience. Ability to work well with others

We run a freemium subscription based revenue model.

Our solution is very scalable and wide in scope. We can deliver community based wellness services though a primary care network where we will partner with governments, NGOs and large corporates to provide preventive care at an affordable rate.

We will also provide employee wellbeing services as research has clearly demonstrated that workplace health assessments influence employee engagement and productivity positively. Utilising a pro-active risk reduction strategy that empowers employees to understand their health status and actions that can be undertaken is key for the growth of any company.   

Insurance providers will be able to use our platform to quantitatively and qualitatively assess health status of potential enrolees thereby offering tiered and customer-friendly products as well as use it for current enrollees , who can be provided with specific recommendations as a value added service. Furthermore, premiums can be linked to health status performance and encourage health promoting behaviour. Beyond the grant we plan to ensure sustainability and impact by using a multiple income generation model which includes cross subsidisation across individual income groups, website advertisement revenue, as well as commercialisation of collected healthcare data and trends.

We are hoping that to secure exposure to knowledge, experts and funding. Knowledge to help better define and fine tune our business and value proposition, as well as how to run the business. Experts who can act as mentors and offer experienced insight and advice in a concentrated amount of time. Funding to help keep the business going through the early lean years. All these we believe Solve can provide and will go a long way in advancing our work.

The most significant threat to WellNewMe will be poor implementation of the community wellness service either by ourselves or future competitors. Solve can help us in developing an execution plan and appropriate mentorship to ensure that we do not make any major slip up along the way to achieving our goals.

Another important risk is the leaking of confidential health data. We plan to mitigate this risk through the building of robust secure platforms which are continually being improved with the help of Solve.