What is the name of your organization?
MEDRI LTD
What is the name of your solution?
MEDRI APP
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
Medri empowers underserved communities with tools to report, verify, and prevent fake antibiotic use, closing critical health surveillance gaps.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
Nigeria
What type of organization is your solution team?
Hybrid of for-profit and nonprofit
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
In Nigeria, a serious health problem exists in the informal drug market, which provides nearly 60% of medicines to communities nationwide. The <a href="https://ncdc.gov.ng/themes/common/docs/protocols/56_1510840387.pdf" target="_blank">National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC)</a> lists tuberculosis, breathing infections, and diarrhea as major infectious disease killers, along with HIV, malaria, blood infections, and meningitis.
These deadly conditions need good antibiotics to treat them. Yet our research shows over 40% of antibiotics sold in informal markets don't have enough active ingredients or are made improperly. This makes treatments fail and speeds up antimicrobial resistance (AMR).
The NCDC says that while they're still studying the full impact of AMR, the data they have shows that many disease-causing germs in Nigeria have already become highly resistant to available treatments.
This problem hits hardest in rural and poor urban areas where Patent Medicine Vendors (PMVs) and market sellers are often the only places to get medicines. Health authorities can't fight this growing threat because they don't know which products are being sold, where they come from, or how they're being used, as highlighted in this <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/policy-brief-addressing-antimicrobial-resistance-nigeria-odis-phd-c6trf" target="_blank">recent policy research</a>.
This information gap puts about 120 million Nigerians who rely on these informal drug sources at risk, especially children and pregnant women who are most vulnerable.
What is your solution?
Medri is a data collection and analysis platform that maps the informal antibiotic market in Nigerian communities.
We've developed a comprehensive system that identifies hotspots of substandard antibiotics, supply shortages, and emerging antimicrobial resistance. Our platform collects critical data from multiple stakeholders - drug vendors, patients, and community health workers - using accessible technologies like WhatsApp, USSD and web forms that work even with limited connectivity.
The data we collect feeds into visualization models that help identify patterns in antibiotic quality, availability, and usage across communities. These insights are displayed on a free-to-access dashboard that enables health officials and pharmaceutical suppliers to plan targeted interventions such as quality assurance programs, supply chain improvements, and public education campaigns.
By providing this crucial intelligence, we're empowering authorities to make evidence-based decisions that protect public health and combat the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance in vulnerable communities.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Medri serves three key groups in rural and underserved areas on the outskirts of Abuja and beyond - areas that currently function as information blackholes in Nigeria's pharmaceutical landscape.
First, we serve small-scale drug vendors and Patent Medicine Vendors (PMVs) who lack connections to legitimate suppliers. These vendors often unknowingly sell substandard antibiotics because they have limited options for sourcing inventory. By connecting them with verified suppliers, we help them provide better medications while building sustainable businesses.
Second, we serve the estimated 40 million Nigerians living in these communities who currently receive inadequate treatment for serious infections. These patients, particularly children and pregnant women, face elevated risks from ineffective medications. Our solution helps ensure they receive quality antibiotics that actually treat their conditions.
Third, we serve health authorities and pharmaceutical companies by providing critical data from previously invisible markets. This information enables targeted interventions and distribution planning based on real community needs.
By shining a light on these hidden drug markets, we can cut down on fake medicines, stop treatment failures, and slow antibiotic resistance—saving lives by getting the right treatments to the people who need them.
