Spirit Health Foundation

Spirit Health Foundation

Spirit Health Foundation

Smart remote monitoring to protect women's health and lives in Sub-Saharan Africa

London, UK

GBR

Nonprofit

There are over 230 million women of reproductive age in countries in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), with women living in underserved communities facing intersecting health challenges. A woman dies every two minutes due to pregnancy or childbirth, with 70% of global maternal deaths occurring in the region. A key reason for this is many mothers aren’t getting the eight Antenatal Care (ANC) and four Postnatal Care (PNC) contacts recommended by the World Health Organisation (WHO) to protect the mother and her baby. Less than 10% get eight ANC contacts and only around 25% four PNC contacts. Risks and complications aren't identified, resulting in high numbers of maternal and neonatal deaths due to preventable causes. It's also expected that by 2030, 85% of NCD-related deaths among women will occur in LMICs – many in countries in SSA. Cardiovascular diseases are the top killer of females of all ages across the region, with cancers and diabetes also leading causes of mortality. Women in underserved rural communities are unable to access the essential monitoring and screening needed as they must walk long distances or take costly transport to facilities, lack of healthcare professionals, and lack of accessible screening where they live.

Our novel smart health solution protects women's health and lives in underserved communities in Sub-Saharan Africa through task-shifting and smart automation - initially prioritising Ethiopia and Kenya. We have customised and adapted existing technology Clinitouch (used in high income countries by a separate organisation Spirit Health Group) to address the problem in underserved regions. https://vimeo.com/1072228343/c30f2bf804?share=copy Community Health Workers are equipped with Clinitouch on an offline app on smart phones to provide ANC and PNC monitoring in women’s homes through smart clinical questionnaires and education videos. Clinical readings from diagnostics are captured in the app. Remote health centres and hospitals receive a ‘risk score’ (red, amber or green) generated by the Clinitouch smart algorithmic system based on the data, and instantly refer 'at risk' women or newborns for preventative or early treatment. Once established for maternal healthcare in the communities, this same Clinitouch model is utilised for monitoring, screening and referrals for other priority women health areas, including hypertension, diabetes and cancers. Clinitouch is customisable for any health area, protocol or community need, and is FHIR-based (Fast Healthcare Interoperability Resources) supporting interoperability with existing health systems.

Women living in underserved rural communities in countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa region. Whilst country dynamics clearly vary, there are common problems. It takes a long time to walk on foot to health facilities to get regular antenatal / postnatal care or basic screening (on average across the SSA region, over 40% of people must walk over an hour to facilities) and is costly to get transport. There are chronic health worker shortages - it is projected that the shortage of health workers in Africa will reach 6.1 million by 2030. This is compounded by poor access to basic screening tools and poor education about maternal healthcare and women's health issues in the communities where they live. By equipping Community Health Workers and Remote Heath Facilities with Clinitouch, we can bring the essential healthcare needed to the women's homes removing these barriers. Our smart remote monitoring solution identifies risks during pregnancies, in the critical post-partum period, and for health conditions across their lives, helping connect every women in every community to the vital, often life-saving care when and where it's needed most.