Mobile Health Apps

THANKGOD ONUOHA FOUNDATION

Mobile Health Apps

The use of mobile health apps for real-time reporting and monitoring of oral antibiotics sold in Delta state, Nigeria.

Delta, Nigeria

NGA

Nonprofit

The widespread of substandard and falsified (SF) and fake antibiotics remain a serious public health challenge in Nigeria, particularly in underserved communities like those in Delta State. These fake medicines contribute significantly to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and avoidable deaths. The World Health Organization estimates that 10% of medical products in LMICs are either substandard or falsified, with antibiotics being the most affected (WHO, 2024). In Nigeria, 30% of antibiotics are believed to be fake (NAFDAC, 2020). Nigeria loses about $1 billion (USD) annually to fake and substandard medicines, including antibiotics (NAFDAC, 2020; USP, 2021). Despite these challenges, there is currently no efficient real-time system for detecting or reporting fake antibiotics in local markets. Mobile health applications (mHealth) have emerged as a promising solution to address these issues by leveraging the widespread use of mobile technology to improve antibiotics access and quality. Mobile health applications offer innovative ways to detect falsified and substandard oral antibiotics, particularly in rural areas. By providing tools for remote monitoring and direct communication with healthcare providers, mHealth applications have the potential to reduce fake or antibiotics usage in real time and overall health outcomes (Olaniyan et al., 2018, Uwaifo et al., 2019).

We will develop a mobile health (mHealth) application that will enable the real-time reporting and monitoring of oral antibiotic quality in Delta State, Nigeria. This digital solution will help tackle the widespread issue of substandard and falsified antibiotics by empowering community members, healthcare workers, and regulatory agencies to detect, report, and respond to suspect drugs promptly. Users will be able to scan QR codes or enter batch numbers of antibiotics to verify their authenticity against national drug databases. If a medicine appears suspicious, users will report it instantly by submitting photos, drug details, and purchase location. The app will use GPS-based geotagging to identify high-risk areas where fake antibiotics are prevalent. The application will also provide educational resources to raise awareness on identifying poor-quality medicines and understanding the health risks they pose. A regulatory dashboard will be made available to agencies like NAFDAC, offering real-time analytics to guide enforcement, monitoring, and policy actions. The app will be compatible with both Android and Apple (iOS) devices, using cloud-based storage, geolocation tools, and data analytics to improve national drug surveillance systems. Ultimately, this solution will support safer antibiotic use, reduce antimicrobial resistance, and strengthen medicine quality control efforts in underserved Nigerian communities.

Our solution will serve residents of Delta State, Nigeria, particularly those in rural communities where access to quality healthcare and medicines is limited. These communities often rely on informal drug vendors and poorly regulated pharmacies, making them highly vulnerable to substandard and falsified (SF) antibiotics. The target population includes low-income families, children, the elderly, and individuals managing infections many of whom lack the knowledge or tools to verify the quality of medications they receive. Currently, these populations are underserved due to weak pharmacovigilance systems, limited digital access to regulatory drug information, and poor awareness of the dangers of SF medicines. This has led to increased treatment failures, prolonged illness, antimicrobial resistance, and even death. By leveraging a mobile health application, our solution will provide a user-friendly platform for verifying antibiotic authenticity, reporting suspicious products, and receiving real-time alerts and education. Community health workers and local users will be empowered to participate in grassroots-level monitoring, while regulatory agencies will gain access to real-time data for prompt intervention. Ultimately, this solution will improve drug safety, public health awareness, and trust in healthcare systems, reducing the health and economic burden associated with counterfeit antibiotics in vulnerable Nigerian communities.