Submitted
Equitable Health Systems

Afya Bora

Team Leader
Reginald Victor Runyoro
Solution Overview & Team Lead Details
Our Organization
Zivanae Afya Bora Company Limited
What is the name of your solution?
Afya Bora
Provide a one-line summary of your solution.
AI-powered and data-driven telehealth platform that connect patients with hospitals and doctors for house calls and telemedicine services in Tanzania
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What specific problem are you solving?

According to World Health Organization (WHO) report of 2016, it states that 95% of Africa's 1.3 Billion people lack access to basic healthcare due to poor infrastructure, long distance travel, high treatment cost, shortage of medical experts, long waits in hospitals and counterfeit medication. Without access to medicines, Africans especially pregnant women and pediatric patients age 0-16 years are susceptible to the three big killer diseases on the continent: malaria, tuberculosis, HIV/AIDS and pandemic diseases such as COVID-19 and Ebola.  

Tanzania has one of the worst doctor-to-patient ratio 1:20,000 per year, with more than 71% of certified hospitals and well-vetted doctors located in urban areas. More than 15 million patients including pregnant women visit hospitals and doctors rooms to receive care, unfortunately more than 10 million people, increasing to over 50 million by 2050 face a broken healthcare delivery system. According to World Bank report of 2013, about 80% of Africans, mostly those in low-income and middle-income economies, rely on public health facilities, while public health facilities are suffering chronic shortages of critical drugs and healthcare workers, many patients die of easily curable and preventable diseases. As a result, more than 10 million people, increasing to over 50 million by 2050 face a broken healthcare delivery system in Tanzania. 

What is your solution?

Afya Bora is a data-driven medical consultation and delivery of healthcare services platform that leverages Artificial Intelligence (AI) to connect patients especially pregnant women and pediatric patients with well-vetted hospitals/doctors in remote or rural areas for telemedicine services and doctor house calls on-demand in Tanzania. Afya Bora allows patients to schedule medical appointment with available and nearest doctor or specialist from the comfort and safety their home, on their own schedule. 

Afya Bora's telemedicine and medical consultation platform offers virtual and audio medical consultation, referrals, online prescription and medicine delivery at the patients doorstep.  Afya Bora makes it very easy for pregnant women and pediatric patients to chat with talented and registered doctors under a specific hospital, which helps to save time for both patients and doctors as well as freeing up resources for patients who really need physical medical appointments.

Afya Bora is a platform assisting hospitals and doctors to improve their efficiency of their operations. With the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) algorithms, Afya Bora helps doctors and hospitals to reduce their overhead costs and number of no-shows, while using geolocation technology to ensure that the nearest and most available doctor is dispatched to a patient within 1 hour. On the other hand it allows pregnant women and pediatric patients to find and book medical appointments and consultation with healthcare service providers 24/7 via video and audio system and receive digital prescriptions and delivery through their online account. 

With the assistance of Machine Learning (ML), Afya Bora has the ability to recommend patient to match with the most nearest healthcare service providers based on their previous experiences and those people similar to them. The Afya Bora experience brings preventive, urgent and primary care to the patient's doorstep, while empowering hospitals and doctors to develop a deep relationship with patients through comprehensive care, unhurried visits and immersion in the patients home environment




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Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?

Afya Bora serves patients, especially pregnant women and pediatric patients age 0-16 years old living in marginalized communities of Tanzania. According to (Maluka, Stephen Oswald et al, 2020), everyday in Tanzania, more than 1,250 pregnant women die from preventable and curable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. 25% of maternal deaths occur during the prenatal period, caused mainly by (pre-)eclampsia and antepartum haemorrhage that are manageable, if pregnant women attend antenatal care (ANC) on time (Scott S et al, 2017). Therefore, the acute shortage of healthcare service providers in Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions of Tanzania affects effective provision of antenatal care (ANC), and as a result some pregnant women do not get their antenatal care (ANC) on time. 

Pregnant women living in remote or rural areas of Tanzania complain that they usual face rude language used by healthcare service providers especially nurses, and this is because the healthcare workers are loaded with heavy work. This problem is mostly contributed by the lack of acute healthcare workers in low-income and middle-income communities in Tanzania.

Patients especially pregnant women living in remote or rural areas of Tanzania initiate the need to attend ANC, however the men have higher decision-making power over female to approve or disapprove women's proposal to attend ANC. In rural or remote areas of Tanzania, men control almost everything including land, livestock and businesses, whereby in some cases, pregnant women do not attend ANC early due to lack of fare to travel and necessary needs related to maternity. 

The solution help patients especially pregnant women and pediatric patients to access healthcare services related to maternal and childbirth, virtually without the need for them to travel long distances to visit or see a doctor or waiting long hours to see a consultant. Afya Bora' services are available both online and offline as well as through mobile application and Short Messaging Services (SMS) for both doctors and patients. Therefore, any patient with a mobile device (smartphone or featured phones) and computer can access the nearest, available and certified hospitals and doctors within your given location instantly. And for home visits, the solution uses geo-location technology to (a) help patients locate to the nearest hospitals, without wasting time and (b) to dispatch medical doctors and GPs to visit patients at home within 1 hour. 

How are you and your team well-positioned to deliver this solution?

Afya Bora's team is made up of the right people with the right skills, with the passion and commitment to continue to extend access to healthcare services in Africa in a sustainable manner. Our diversity and youthfulness are the sources of team strength, determination and shape our views. Our teams' values define Afya Bora's culture, who we are, what we do and where we are going everyday. Our values (customer satisfaction obsession, teamwork, innovation and leadership and empathy) are the foundation of our identity as a digital healthcare service provider and compass our interaction with our stakeholders including our customers, users, partners, investors and experts. 

We have collective 25 years of experience in business development, operations, machine learning, artificial intelligence, software development, health research, medicine, and international community development. Our team is deeply connected in the healthcare ecosystem within Tanzania, and we are aware of the challenges faced by health care stakeholders in the country. Our diversity team, our stakeholders, and the communities that we collaborate are critical to developing a solution that is equitable and diversity for everyone.

On a monthly basis, our team conducts health and wellness community engagement activities including the usage of mobile application, bulk SMS and internet connectivity upon competency-based medical education and training culture to help them development their skills in mobile health competencies which focuses on skill development.  

The following are our team members, who have dedicated their time, synergy and commitment to make this business idea are reality;

Reginald Victor Runyoro is an award-winning social entrepreneur and design thinker, with over 9 years of experience working on the sexualities and reproductive sector, community development and medical tourism. Having worked in the health sector in Tanzania and South Africa on global health-related project over the years, Reginald has a keen interest in climate action gamification and sustainability due to the potential impact these elements can have on health in short-term and long-term. 

Tisha Singh is a fresh graduate in Bachelor of Technology (BTech) in Computer Engineering and Software Development specializing in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) from the Lovely Professional University in Punjab, India. Tisha has worked with Clutch for 2 consecutive years which is a data-driven technological field guide to businesses buying decisions. Tisha was responsible for taking complex technical concepts (UI & UX) designs and turning them into elegant and easy to use workflows. She is passionate about designing and implementing software technical workflow that provides descent and real value to clutch users. 

Goodluck Tesha is the Co-Founder and Operations Officer at Zivanae Afya Bora with passion in managing day-to-day activities of a business and engaging with the sales and marketing team to grow the business revenue. Goodluck brings with him 6 years of working experience in the hospitality and medicine operations - where he was responsible with maintaining and managing the daily business activities in a sustainable manner. Goodluck is driven and motivated towards empowering women and young people living in marginalized communities of Tanzania, and strengthening mutual networks and relationship with stakeholders. 

Dr. Jacqueline Gerald is a certified and well-vetted Medical Doctor (MD) specializing in maternal care and childbirth experience in the Muhimbili National Health Hospital. She has over 5 years of working at Muhimbili as a General Practitioner (GP) where she was responsible with (a) providing pre-conception care for women with medical or social needs, (b) providing counselling and health promotion in early pregnancy which includes competence in management and providing appropriate referral for women with harsh conditions and (c) providing follow-up care for diabetes, hypertensions, Fistola, Bawasili, anaemia and mental health conditions which may have complicated pregnancy. She works as a Chief Medical Officer (CMO) at Zivanae Afya Bora where she is responsible for providing an early pregnancy consultation to check the woman's general health.  

Riziki Mlay works full-time as a Customer Success & Engagement Officer at Zivanae Afya Bora where he brings with him over 10 years of experience public relations, networking marketing, sales and community engagement. Riziki is responsible with developing and  managing the company's client portfolio, sustaining business growth and profitability and analyzing customer and user data to improve customer experience and satisfaction. 

Emmanuel Saruni works full-time as a Software Developer at Zivanae Afya Bora. Saruni is a front-end and back-end Web Developer, with over 6 years of experience in website designing, development and management. He is a passionate problem solver working at the intersection of people and technology.

 

Which dimension of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?
  • Build fundamental, resilient, and people-centered health infrastructure that makes essential services, equipment, and medicines more accessible and affordable for communities that are currently underserved;
Where our solution team is headquartered or located:
Arusha, Tanzania
Our solution's stage of development:
  • Pilot
How many people does your solution currently serve?
22,320
Why are you applying to Solve?

Currently, Afya Bora needs regulation approval from the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA) to maintain and encompass technology and service neutrality to match with the general dynamics of the communication sector. All licencees with appropriate licenses from the TCRA can provide a platform to exchange information and services whether wireless and wired systems to communicate with other mobile applications and systems in a similar way.
Afya Bora is required to have Application Services Licence as guided by the Electronic and Postal Communication (Licensing) Regulations, 2018 or its amendments. In order to avoid lock-in for all use case scenarios (assignees and customers to mobile operators), mobile portability shall be allowed for our services.
 Currently, Afya Bora has submitted for the licence from TCRA and utilizing the same Mobile Station International Subscriber Directory Number (MSISDN), used for current mobile communication that shall be assigned. Therefore, navigating government compliance and procurement can take a lot of time because we don't know anyone in the government departments. However, with the capability of Solve to advice and connect us with potential people in the government departments - it will be very easy for our business to penetrate the healthcare market and acquire legal licences. In addition, the funding and investment award from Solve will help Afya Bora to acquire the Electronic and Postal Communication Licence which cost $4,500 and on renewal it cost $1,200

I am applying for Solve because i expect to establish mutual relationships with business experts, mentors, investors and partners who have more skills and knowledge in the healthcare marketplace business. The skills and knowledge i will gain from the relationship will play a crucial role in the development and implementation of our business in new markets and regions. The relationship created will enable me to utilize their existing resources to guide me towards a sustainable business model for profitable and healthy business operations.  

I am applying for Solve because i believe that i will gain customized business development and leadership skills guidance in terms of design thinking, marketing, pitching angle and how to close a deal in 6-minutes. Solve will open more social and economic opportunities when i meet people because there's a good chance where they'll remember about me in the future when an opportunity awakens. Lastly, i am applying for Solve because i expect to share my knowledge and skills with other entrepreneurs, mentors and coaches in order to exchange information and strategies on how to tackle healthcare challenges in our surrounding societies. 

In which of the following areas do you most need partners or support?
  • Financial (e.g. improving accounting practices, pitching to investors)
Who is the Team Lead for your solution?
Reginald Victor Runyoro
More About Your Solution
Your Team
Your Business Model & Funding
Solution Team:
Reginald Victor Runyoro
Reginald Victor Runyoro
CEO & Co-Founder