Sickle Cell Anaemia (SiCA) Care

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a genetic red blood cell disorder that leads to a shortage of healthy red blood cells and affects the delivery of oxygen throughout the body. It is a chronic disease that causes recurrent pain and complications throughout the life of the individual affected and requires careful management to prevent serious adverse complications. While SCD is considered a rare disease globally, over 75% of the SCD burden is in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). About 3% of children born in  SSA are diagnosed with SCD, with a related high childhood mortality rate ranging from 50-90% across the continent with more than 50% of children dying before their 5th birthday. In contrast, the mortality rate of SCD in high-income countries has decreased due to appropriate management practices, both for chronic symptoms and particularly for acute onset of complications. Indicators of such acute onsets include oxygen saturation levels, fever, high respiratory rates, and chest pain which with current technology, can be monitored remotely at home and readily treated if diagnosed early. Current management practices in sub-Saharan African countries are inadequate due to limited diagnosis and monitoring. We propose to optimize our telehealth and care management app to enable bridge the gaps in monitoring: enabling patients to report symptoms, measure, and input respiratory rates and track oxygen saturation with low-cost wearable devices. Using rule-based machine learning methods (based on existing clinical ranges) we will provide alerts to patients and connect them with specialist health providers on our platform for management, referrals, and prescriptions through the app. Additionally, providers can monitor their patients' immunization and medication adherence. Beyond the immediate goal of connecting SCD patients with health specialists and enabling care management, data obtained can provide much-needed insights into understanding SCD in the region.

A software and hardware approach for sickle cell disease management in sub-Saharan Africa. For patients who are minors, the use of our solution will be implemented by their guardians.

Primary: Software- Android an iOS mobile application for symptom monitoring and tracking, medication prescriptions and adherence, and connections to a health specialist

Secondary: Hardware- A point of care sickle cell anemia test that integrates with software

We currently have our base/generalized mobile apps deployed on the iOS appstore and Android playstore. Once the patients sign up for the GAPhealth Patient App, they will be prompted to complete their profile with specific clinically relevant information. The patient interface includes a "Health
Providers" tab that allows the patient to view verified health providers in the GAPhealth platform and filter by interest to a virtual or in-person appointment, language and specialty. The "Healthcare Visit Notes" tab allows patients to view their clinic visit notes sent by health providers
after each clinical visit (virtual or in-person) session. Patients can add and view clinical appointments. The user can add and track medications and details such as the medication name, reason for medication, instructions, and reminders. Patients can add and track their immunizations
and upload Lab Results. We will also develop a sickle cell disease-specific symptom reporter for patients to use. Patients can share any part of their data with providers during scheduled appointments.

Users can keep track of their health and have fine-grained control over their digital medical records and what providers and families can see. They stay informed and are notified whenever their records are updated; for example, patients get notifications when medication is prescribed. Users are also able to add records outside of our system manually. These records are saved in a
form that healthcare professionals can utilize. With this approach, providers get complete digital records of their patient's medical history, medications, and health conditions which providers can share with the patient's permission. We incorporate real-time messaging and live voice and video communication technologies in our solution. Providers are connected to patients from diverse geographical locations and can engage each other at any time and place of their choosing. Providers remain in sync with their patients with their digital records in their pockets. Our solution empowers consumers to be drivers in their personal health goals, and caretakers of their family's health while also providing detailed data to help grow the health research. In conjunction with AI and ML technologies, we provide more insight into patient healthcare and provide a better and ever-improving customer experience. In addition, these tools play a significant
role in our process automation tasks and offer improvements in providers' workflow and productivity.

We are targeting countries with high sickle cell prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa starting with Ghana. Our solution will be used by patients who have been diagnosed with sickle cell disease to monitor and manage their condition and reach expert health providers easily. Our population is currently underserved due to a lack of access to medical care and public health strategies to reduce mortality and morbidity.

For us, it is personal

The early morning call or unexpected text informing the death or sickness of a loved one is something nobody yearns for. That feeling of helplessness and worry with thoughts of what-if questions consume our minds — what if I had been there with them or what if they had better access to healthcare?

 Within the African culture, especially, we each take on the responsibility of taking care of one another. As a result, we are active participants in our families’ and friends’ healthcare journeys. As part of this communal healthcare support, we explain hospital notes, remind them of diet changes, and in the case of GAPhealth’s co-founders’ we help our loved ones’ record at home diabetes test results and manage their blood sugar levels. We both have family members and friends who live with chronic diseases that can be difficult to manage.

When we moved to North America for post-secondary education and became less involved in our loved ones’ day-to-day health dealings, we wished there was an easy way to help them keep track of health records and provide them with the healthcare they deserve.

The need to solve these issues led to the creation of the Global AI Powered Health Technologies known as GAPhealth; a company that uses technology to create tools to bridge healthcare gaps in Africa. GAPhealth enables its users to easily keep track of their health care data and medications schedule. We use artificial intelligence based on user information to provide personalized age-based preventative health recommendations and specific lifestyle guides.  Patients can add on family members, truly enabling community health support while having easy access to verified in-app providers. We make it easy for providers to join our network through a simple verification process, after which providers can opt to attend to patients via SMS, phone, video calls, and even schedule in-patient visits.

 Why our team? First of all, we are millennials and consumers of the digital age. We know what we want from our digital devices.

Secondly, we are African diaspora in the Americas. We have personal insights into the lived African experience. Our time in Canada and the United States has opened our eyes to technology possibilities in healthcare. Thirdly, we are highly technically trained. Bintou is a Gambian chemical engineer with six years of experience in process design and optimization, project management, and change management in the mining sector. Mercy is a Ghanaian biomedical engineer with eight years of medical development and implementation experience, global health, and artificial intelligence. We are driven by our personal lived experiences to improve healthcare access in Africa.

Our team members are based out of Ghana and Gambia and we have a board of medical advisors from those countries providing strategies for implementation.

Everybody deserves the best healthcare. Together with us, you will be able to securely store your data, receive excellent care from health professions, get tailored health recommendations, and be involved in the healthcare of your loved ones. We look forward to welcoming you and your loved ones to our GAPhealth community, whether as a patient, caretaker, or provider.

We have a well-functioning base solution, a lot of interest in our solution and a great team with the technical know-how to make this a success. However, we are lacking the financial resources required to optimize our product for sickle cell disease and to scale it.  

1. Most telehealth services have in-house specialists, which limits the providers the patients can access. Our telehealth service provides more flexibility, allowing any provider to sign up to be verified to use the app. Given that there are limited trained doctors in the region, the application will allow nurses and community health workers to also signup and be verified. The application will allow providers to see their own patients but also allow patients to explore other providers on the app. A patient-based provider rating system ensures quality control. Think of this as similar to the Airbnb model, where we do not employ providers but rather have them as independent contractors on the platform. Telehealth is informally already being done in our target countries, through applications like Whatsapp or direct phone calls. However, it is difficult to manage and track payments. Also, if patients do not personally know a health provider, it can be difficult for them to access these informal telehealth sessions. We are streamlining the process while broadening access.

2. Most stand-alone telehealth solutions do not have an in-built health record storage which makes it difficult to keep track of and understand the patient’s medical history. Our patient-centred health record approach allows patients to have their health summaries with them wherever they go, without being restricted to a particular clinic.

3. Our proposed AI-based approach towards generating patient-specific insights and recommendations for disease management does not currently exist in pre-existing electronic health records or telehealth systems in the region.

1 Year

• Optimize the current app for Sickle Cell Disease specific modules 
• Onboard  5-10  network clinical partners in Ghana and the Gambia
• Optimize Product-Market fit and go-to-market Strategy
• Machine learning incorporation risk alert
• Impact 100 patients - recurrent use and improvement in health monitoring

5 years

• Integrate with pharmacies and labs
• Expand to other chronic health conditions/non-communicable diseases to include diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
• Expand reach in Ghana and Gambia through marketing and outreach efforts. Commence groundwork research for expansion into Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, and Senegal based on current partnerships.
• Machine learning incorporation risk alert
• Impact 10,000+ patients per year - recurrent use and improvement in health monitoring

• Increase access to health providers for people with sickle cell disease
• Reduce the number of preventable deaths and hospitalizations for people with sickle cell disease
• Improve understanding of sickle cell disease health manifestation in areas of operation through qualitative interviews and quantitative surveys

Our core technology is our mobile and web-based software 

Over time we will use data generated by the patient to create personalized algorithms for predicting complications and recommending scheduling virtual or onsite clinical appointments.

Having black, female, religiously diverse (Muslim and Christian) co-founders, as well as a majority female team we are very intentional about having every member of our team's voice heard and supported. 2 of our members are mothers and we accommodate their needs by being flexible on where to work, being open on having children as part of our virtual meetings :), and for our entire team making sure their family and well being is also a priority to us. 

(a) Three-tier SAAS subscription for the base with additional charges for other features. Tiers include:

- For clinical institutions yearly subscription at $2000 annually for up to 5 providers, and an additional $250 per additional providers

-For  Health Providers:

- Subscription at $450 annually

- Pay as you go telehealth transaction fee at 25% charge per transaction

(b) Patients use the app for care management and receive insights at no fee by providing permission for de-identified data. Patients receive compensation when their data is used.

Initial funding: Grants, competition, angel investors and friends and family 

Medium to Long Term: Revenue and Profits from services

Marketing strategy

We will initially target B2B, health providers and health institutions. The software has low implementation costs. It provides the institutions with market differentiation to attract paying patients for virtual visits at their convenience. We have enlisted healthcare networks partnerships in Ghana and the Gambia and they are interested in adapting the app. The health institutions and their providers will enroll their patients to use the app (B2B2C).

Once we have a critical mass of clinical institutions and providers, we will include direct-to-consumer, targeting urban 20-65 aged patients directly through marketing. We will demonstrate the ease and convenience of reaching health providers, the value of the data storage and elucidate tailored data insights to improve their care outcomes.

Marketing for individual patients: in-person marketing campaigns in high density areas like markets, and universities. Social media (Whatsapp, Instagram, etc.), word of mouth, referral program from existing users, Traditional Advertising (radio, TV, signage in healthcare facilities, targeted mailings)

Marketing for healthcare facilities and individual health providers; Direct sale contacts, Word of Mouth, Medical Conference presentations (volunteer), Trade Show booths, Traditional Advertising (signage, targeted mailings)

We have conducted market surveys to determine the need and value of a patient-centred health data storage system in SSA. They indicate high interest in the data storage platform, with concerns centring around data security which we address with authentication measures. Even though this app feature is free, 72% of respondents were willing to pay, with greater than 50% willing to pay $3-$6 per month. We have also conducted surveys to determine interest in our mobile application as a whole by providers and patients in Ghana and Gambia. Of the 68 providers who signed up, greater than 50% did not currently have an electronic health record in their hospitals, and those that did found them cumbersome and inflexible. Roughly 90% of health providers indicated they are interested in conducting telehealth appointments at least two hours a  week, and the majority would charge $3-10 for a 15-minute session. Of the 72 patients who signed up, the majority indicated a willingness to pay $2-$10 for a 15-minute telehealth session and use the telehealth feature at least twice a month. The app is currently used by 70 patients and 23 providers with 100% retention. We also have LOIs from 3 hospitals in Ghana and from a network of clinics in the Gambia and Nigeria. Other clinics in Ghana and Gambia that we completed initial meetings with and are high potential clients include Nbita, Med Assured, and Westfield clinic. 

We are conducting a pilot launch at the Poku Transport Clinic in Ghana and  have letters of intent  for a subscription plan from 3 hospitals in Ghana and from a network of clinics in The Gambia and Nigeria. Other clinics in Ghana and Gambia that we completed initial meetings with and are high potential clients include Nbita, Med Assured, and Westfield clinic. We have a waitlist of 68 providers and 72 patients signed up to use our app, and we are turning them into clients.