Mbarara, Uganda, 26 August 2018 – Innovating to improve community health services to attain universal health coverage during the 6th Annual CAMTech UGANDA Medtech Hack-a-thon, Virtual Health Team received 3.5 million UGX as the grand prize winners. Their affordable medical technology is an app that trains Village Health Team workers (VHTs) to provide health education tools for their communities in a profit-sharing model that incentivizes VHTs.

CAMTech UGANDA awarded the 2018 Hack-a-thon winners over 8 million UGX in prize money. Judges gathered at Mbarara University of Science and Technology (MUST) to also name Team Digital Speaking Assistant (DSA) as First Runner-Up, Team Breast Me Bag as Second Runner-Up and Team WASH as Third Runner-Up. Team DSA received 2.8 million UGX for innovating a device that improves communication between health providers and the hearing impaired, Team Breast Me Bag received 2.1 million UGX for innovating temperature-controlled storage for breast milk and Team WASH received 1.165 million UGX for innovating a system that reinforces hand washing reminders. Honorable mentions and 365,000 UGX were also awarded to Team Mosquito Attracting & Killing (MAAK) Bulb and Helping Mothers Team (HMT).

In addition to receiving prize money, CAMTech UGANDA, part of the MUST Center for Innovation and Technology Transfer, will offer all 40 teams from the Hack-a-thon an opportunity to compete for membership in the CAMTech Accelerator Program (CAP). An initiative on the CAMTech Innovation Platform, the CAP provides milestone-based funding, a CAP Coach, participation in the CAP Cohort, expert match-making and acceleration support.

More than 290 clinicians, engineers, entrepreneurs, students and designers convened at MUST for 48 hours to develop innovative medical technologies to improve community health services to attain universal health coverage. Participants pitched 71 challenges related to community health services, formed multi-disciplinary teams, prototyped solutions and developed business models before presenting their ideas to an expert panel of judges.

“It’s so surprising what can come out of a group of people who are passionate about reaching solutions,” said Dr. Kristian Olson, Director of CAMTech. “We’re coming up with solutions to engage the end-user in what would make their lives easier, more fulfilling and more productive. We want to see not one spark from this weekend, not two sparks, but many sparks that are moving the needle on obtaining community health access.”

Prior to the Hack-a-thon on 25-26 August, CAMTech UGANDA hosted a Challenge Summit on 24 August, featuring panel discussions focused on community participation, service delivery and health information management.

“A problem that is identified by a human being is exactly the same problem that a human being can solve,” said Dr. Data Santorino, CAMTech UGANDA Country Manager.

With support from Massachusetts General Hospital Global Health, MUST, Central Public Health Laboratories, the Maternal Newborn and Child Health Institute and RENU, CAMTech UGANDA organized the annual Hack-a-thon to develop disruptive innovations that have the potential to achieve widespread public health impact.

“This is all part of a larger program where the Department of Community Health, the Nursing Department and CAMTech are working together by solving problems in community health to obtain healthcare access and needed health interventions for people who aren’t able to obtain them as easily as they should,” Olson said.

The Consortium for Affordable Medical Technologies (CAMTech) is a global network of academic, corporate and implementation partners whose mission is to build entrepreneurial capacity and accelerate medical technology development through an open innovation platform. CAMTech innovators who come from public health, clinical medicine, engineering and business work with end-users in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs). CAMTech UGANDA is administratively housed at MUST and supports local innovators to transform ideas into solutions that can revolutionize health outcomes for people living in Uganda and across the globe.

Rescue by Flare and Uber have come together to ensure Uber drivers receive fast, convenient and reliable rescue services in the event of an emergency.

The partnership is part of Uber Rewards which seeks to provide technical support to Uber Drivers. Flare will be their ambulance partner offering emergency rescue services in the event of an emergency.

The web based service as a wide network of ambulances and emergency providers on its platform to provide a swift emergency response at the tap of a button.

Caitlin Dolkart, Flare co-founder mentioned that road accidents contribute significantly to emergencies and Uber is forward thinking to try and get ahead of any potential issues. Passengers will also benefit with peace of mind and in the event of an emergency, the fastest and best emergency response.

On what the country can do better to ensure efficient emergency response Caitlin says there is the need to build a coordinated network of first responders to ensure everyone has access to the fastest care when they need it most.

[vc_row nav_skin=”light” consent_include=”include”][vc_column css_animation=””][vc_image_caption aspect_ratio=”4:3″ style=”style_1″ caption_appear=”caption_appear” skin=”light” radius=”0″ title=”FLARE PROVIDES EMERGENCY RESPONSE TO TAXIFY BODA RIDERS” description=”” preloader=”” css_animation=””][vc_column_text]I-TALKS plenary session organized by Villgro Kenya, Tangaza University and Social Enterprise Society of Kenya (SESOK) held on 5th April 2018 at Tangaza University College brought together key policy makers in government, investors, healthcare innovators and start-ups to discuss Social Entrepreneurship as the driver of Universal Health Coverage.

Universal healtlh Coverage is one of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s key pillars of the Big Four Agenda  and for the country to realise it there has to be a working relationship between the government, academia and the private business community.

The panel chaired by Rob Beyer Chairman Villgro Kenya comprised of Florence Kimata SME Advisor Min. Industry, Trade and Co-operatives, Chacha Marwa CEO & Co-founder Enzi healthcare, Hiroki Ishida Investment Director AAIC, Bro. Jonas Dzinekou from Tangaza University College and Jessica Vernon from Maisha Meds.

Participants reviewed the current social entrepreneurship ecosystem, considered a number of challenges standing in the way of attaining Universal Health Coverage and provided a few insights on how to go about them.

Mr. Chacha Marwa was quick to bring up the challenge of strict government regulations. He said that the government needs to tone down on the number of licenses required to set up a social enterprise in the health sector,

“There is a lot of bureaucracy within government for anyone who wants to set up a social business focusing on health. For a clinic for example you’ll need a license for the facility, the staff, the laboratory, the equipment and an array of many others clearance certificates all of which cost money, something start-ups do not have much of. This pushes start-ups to set up without necessarily formalising their business, the government needs to reduce the number of licenses required to set up businesses.”

Florence Kimata the SME Advisor Ministry of Industry, Trade & Co-operatives reiterated the claims on start-ups being hesitant to formalise their businesses and that the effect was there was very little documentation for accurate data analysis. She hinted that the government was doing its best to create a conducive start-up environment given that Kenya came in 3rd after Rwanda in the ease of doing business in Africa but there was always room for improvement.

On the part of policies Florence added that the government is trying to come up with Policies that drive bigger companies to work with start ups in the area in a bid create employment, promote social impact and widen the networks of start-ups in Kenya. She also highlighted to governments plans to provide start-ups with funds from a central government fund.

Br. Jonas hinted on the dyfunctional relatioinship between the academia and the government was a major challenge adding that there has to be a working relationship if Universal Health Coverage and in a broader picture the SDG’s are to be achieved. Training social entrepreneurs needs data which is vital for producing research, start-ups also rely heavily on the data generated for feasibility studies.

The opportunity for start-ups in Kenya to work closely with those in Japan was brought up by Hiroki Ishida of Asia Africa Investment & Consulting.

The closing remarks delivered by Dr. Robert Karanja, CEO of Villgro Kenya mentioned the innovation landscape and how start-ups can tap into incubators like Villgro Kenya to help advance towards Universal Health Coverage.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Flare has entered into a partnership with Taxify Boda and Nairobi Womens Hospital to provide emergency reponse to Taxify Boda Riders through its large network of first responders. Rescue by Flare will also provide driver safety training to all the drivers under Taxify. Flare integrates a group of companies operating ambulances and fire trucks into its platform, which uses a central map to show the availability and whereabouts of the emergency vehicles.

In this venture, Flare Dispatch will be the main platform for emergency evacuation while basic medical treatment will be taken care of at The Nairobi Womens Hospital. Flare is an app that aggregates privately owned ambulance companies into an interface for patients and hospitals. It is a digitalized 911 system built for the African context. Ambulance companies use the browser dashboard to manage their fleet and an Android app in their vehicles to respond to patient and hospital requests. Healthcare professionals and patients use the app or hotline to coordinate patient transfers and rescues.

Flare was recently awarded $1,500 by African Development Bank at the Nairobi Innovation Week for their rescue services which will help even those at the bottom of the social pyramid gain access to emergency healthcare when they need it.

The base fare for TaxifyBoda will be Ksh.30 where each kilometer will be charged at Ksh.15. The minimum fare will be Ksh.50 while each minute will be charged at Ksh.3. From Westlands to the Nairobi town centre, Taxify Boda will cost as little as Ksh.100.