Healthtech startups revitalizing healthcare delivery in Nigeria
Over the years, technology has transformed several facets of human endeavour thus becoming an integral part of humanity. While the financial services sector has experienced rapid innovation and growth, it took the COVID-19 pandemic for the world to see the need for more tech-driven innovation in the health sector.
As global healthcare systems worked assiduously to limit the spread of the corona virus, they also had to ensure that the delivery of normal healthcare services was not disrupted. This stretched both young and veteran medical establishments thin, thereby highlighting the need for disruption and innovation to improve healthcare delivery.
In Nigeria today, healthtech startups exist across the mhealth, telemedicine, consumer health and wellness, wearable technology, electronic medical records (EMR) and inventory categories, to name a few. Globally, there is a growing trend of digital innovation in the health sector to provide convenient and accessible service without comprising on quality, with telemedicine said to be at the forefront of this trend.
telemedicine uses video calls to help patients interact with their healthcare giver from anywhere around the world via the internet. While wearable technologies help healthcare givers and patients gather and monitor medical data (heart rate, blood pressure, pulse rate etc) from patients remotely. Also, technology has helped improve the way hospitals keep records. They have moved from keeping patient records and medical inventory in paper files to having an electronic database where Doctors can assess and analyse them on the go. It can be transferred from one hospital or Doctor to the other in seconds, in the event of an emergency.
These innovations have made healthcare delivery more convenient and accessible. It has also helped ease up the pressure on the healthcare system as it reduces the need for in-person consultations and frees up space in hospitals for emergencies. In Nigeria, a number of healthtech startups have adopted these innovations to improve healthcare delivery nationwide and in Africa. They include
LifeBank
Read Also:
Founded in 2016 by Temie Giwa-Tubosun, LifeBank is a leading healthtech startup in Nigeria which focuses on the speedy transportation of blood from labs nationwide to patients and doctors in hospitals across the country. The main mission of LifeBank is to ensure that blood is available where and when it is needed in any community in Nigeria to ensure the safety of lives.
Helium Health
Helium health is the largest Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and Hospital Management Information (HMI) Systems provider in West Africa. It enables medical facilities own a telemedicine platform with which they can connect with patients online.
Nguvu Health
While other healthtech startups are rightly innovating to improve the physical wellbeing of Nigerians and Africans, Nguvu healthrecognises the need to focus on mental health and wellbeing.
54Gene
54Gene is a healthtech startup which works to fill the gap in the global genomics market by creating different datasets that can be used to unlock scientific discoveries and enhance diagnostic and therapeutic outcomes both in Africa and the world.
FIDIO
FIDIO is an initiative by Alpha.MD which uses telemedicine through Mobile Health Kiosks to provide affordable healthcare services to low-income households and communities in Nigeria.
Chekkit
Chekkit is a Nigerian-based startup looking to combat the challenge of counterfeit goods and drugs in Nigeria and Africa at large with its tracking and monitoring solution. Co-founded by Dare Odumade and Tosin Adelowo in 2018, Chekkit hopes to become the leading authentication and distribution tracking technology solution globally.
Healthtracka
Co-founded by Ifeoluwa Dare-Johnson and Victor Amusan in 2021, Healthtracka is a fast-rising healthtech platform that offers the best home health tests in Nigeria with easy-to-read diagnostic test results presented to patients digitally within 48hours of sample collection.
SOURCE: Vanguard
