Meet the 6 Pioneers of Health Technology in Tanzania

"Leaving a major part of the world out of the health innovation journey is an injustice to humanity. We have to heal the future." - Mama Samia

Advances in technology have a significant role in improving healthcare delivery and universal health coverage.

By making healthcare more accessible and affordable, technology can help close the gap between those who have access to quality care and those who do not. In addition, technology can help improve the quality of care by providing better information and tools for both patients and providers.

Here are the six pioneers of tech-enabled health in Tanzania. These organizations are using technology to improve access to care, quality of care, and patient outcomes.

1. Digital Health and Innovation Research Group (mDHIRG).

The mDHIRG is a multidisciplinary research team at the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (MUHAS). Its founding members are Dr. Felix Sukums, Dr. Deogratias Mzurikwao, Ms. Juliana Mbuke, Mr. Twaha Kabika, Ms. Rebecca Chaula, and Dr. John Paul Kaswija.

The Group's researchers come from a variety of backgrounds, including information systems, information and communication technology, health informatics, digital health, artificial intelligence, machine learning, data analytics, cloud computing, biomedical engineering, health systems, statistics, and data science.

mDHIRG, which began operations in early 2021, intends to contribute to the assessment, design, development, and application of digital technologies and innovation in the health and related sectors in various national research and innovation priorities.

The Group has a long-term plan to support the establishment of a Centre for Digital Health and Innovation (CDHI) at the MUHAS Mlonganzila Campus, which will host a variety of digital health and innovation activities, including the following:

• Digital health innovation research and training hub established at MUHAS.
• MUHAS will establish a medical device testing laboratory.
• Construction of a Centralized Health Data Center

Members of the mDHIRG are active participants in a variety of digital health and innovation projects and initiatives. Individual or group projects are highlighted below.

The team members have extensive experience and expertise in the collaborative implementation of research, innovation, and consulting projects. Here is a taste:

i) Development and evaluation of digital health policies and strategies, such as:

• Assessment report for the Tanzania eHealth strategy (2013-2018) implementation in 2018/2019.
• Assessment of the Digital Health Landscape in the Zanzibar Health Sector in 2020.
• Tanzania National Digital Health Strategy 2019-2024 Development.
• Zanzibar's Digital Health Strategy 2020-2025

ii) Development of a legal and regulatory framework for digital transformation, including standards and guidelines, including:

• Creation of the Tanzania Communication and Development Center ICT Policy,
• MUHAS ICT Policy, and
• National ICT Security Policy and Guidelines.

iii) Development of Requirements for ICT infrastructure, systems, and services specifications, standard operating procedures, and guidelines for hospitals and universities.

iv) Medical information system development and evaluation, health network cybersecurity, and healthcare software

v) Analysis and interpretation of health data, including medical imaging and the application of machine learning to clinical patient data for decision-making and diagnosis.

vi) Cloud computing, data storage, and security, Data management, and analysis.

vii) Digital health solutions and business models are being developed and tested experimentally.

viii) Health Technology Assessments (HTAs) e.g. Acceptance research regarding new healthcare information systems (via user surveys or methodical analysis, e.g. structural equation modeling).

ix) Information system development in the context of healthcare and well-being (such as online platforms and mobile applications).

x. Biosensor design and development, as well as portable wearable devices, monitors, and sensors.

xi. AI and ML application development and implementation, as well as data mining to extract health-related information and knowledge from data.

xii. Application development for Virtual (VR) and Augmented (AR) reality.

2. Ifakara Innovation Hub (IIH).

The IIH, like its parent organization, the Ifakara Health Institute, is dedicated to improving health, generating wealth, and alleviating poverty.

Ifakara aims to build Healthtech businesses from the ground up, from concept to market-ready products. The hub offers non-equity grants to start-ups and entrepreneurs to help them develop prototypes, and MVPs, and bring their products to market faster.

Its flagship facility, the Ifakara FabLab, gives innovators the tools they need to turn their ideas and research into products and services that address local health issues in real-time. The Hub, in collaboration with its partner network, works to provide the necessary skills, coaching, tools, and equipment to innovators for them to develop their products.

Every year, the Hub chooses start-ups from its project pipeline to receive training, meet other local entrepreneurs, coaches, and mentors, and work on their projects in terms of business aspects and product development through its innovation exchange program.

The inaugural Tanzania Open Science Hardware Summit was recently hosted by the Ifakara Innovation Hub. Furthermore, its Product Development Partnership Forum promotes locally manufactured products, beginning with Tanzanian-made medical devices.

3. Touch Foundation Tanzania.

Touch Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to saving lives and alleviating human suffering. It improves access to healthcare and the quality of local health systems in Sub-Saharan Africa.

In 2013, Touch Tanzania, in collaboration with the Vodafone Foundation, launched the m-mama emergency transportation system to ensure that pregnant women have access to safe labor and delivery care.

In 2020, Lesotho became the first country to commit to implementing the m-mama system on a national scale. In Tanzania, the M-mama program is implemented by Vodacom, a local partner.

Touch Foundation Tanzania, based in Mwanza, set out to address a difficult problem: the health of Tanzanian pregnant women and newborns is at risk. There are three notable delays.

• Delay 1: A delay in seeking medical attention. In Tanzania, 40% of children die within the first 28 days of life.
• Delay 2: Delay in receiving medical attention. A Tanzanian woman is 80 times more likely than an American woman to die during pregnancy.
• Delay 3: Awaiting care. 40% of women still give birth at home, without the assistance of a skilled midwife.

The M-mama program offers a solution by enhancing the health system's ability to provide high-quality care. This is how.

• Through community outreach, encourage women to seek health services.
• Set up and run a dispatch center for emergency transportation.
• Teach healthcare workers about the importance of maternal and newborn care.
• Create and manage a community taxi network to transport patients.
• Improve healthcare facilities so that emergency obstetric and newborn care is available.
• Make the community aware of the emergency transportation system.

M-mama is a lifesaver. Here are some figures.

• Three times as many maternal emergencies are transported to healthcare facilities for life-saving treatment.
• 27% decrease In terms of maternal deaths.
• It costs $2,000 to save one maternal life.

The M-mama program is a low-cost quick win for Tanzanian mothers and newborns. In eight steps, the Touch Foundation and its partners are improving access to emergency transportation.

• Women in crisis at home or in a lower-level facility.
• Send out a community taxi driver or an ambulance.
• Triage from a distance.
• Contact the dispatch center (toll-free).
• Admission to the hospital.
• Safe delivery.
• Follow-up with patients.
• Mother and child are both healthy.

4. Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute (KCRI).

The KCRI is an academic center for evidence-based health interventions. It initiates and conducts medical research to generate evidence for interventions. The research institute is located at the foot of Mount Kilimanjaro, about a 30-minute drive from the Kilimanjaro International Airport (KIA). In Tanzania, KCRI is the leading provider of health research services.

Previous research, as well as the Institute's current research portfolio, has resulted in evidence-based research findings that have added to the body of knowledge on public health issues and health policy. Other discoveries impacted patients at Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center and elsewhere right away.

Clinical trials, vaccine trials, surveillance studies, qualitative studies, experimental studies, and other types of research are carried out at the Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute.

KCRI's research activity has produced competent research professionals capable of leading the development, planning, and implementation of major clinical trials over the years.

KCRI researches a variety of health and disease topics, which are divided into three broad research themes. These are as follows:

• Major Infectious Diseases: HIV, Tuberculosis, and Malaria.
• Non-communicable Diseases (NCDs): Diabetes, Stroke, Hypertension, and Cancer.
• Neglected Infectious Diseases: Dengue, Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), and Schistosomiasis.

Several units at the Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute collaborate.

The Illumina MiSeq Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) technology is available at the Genomics Unit. The system's robustness places it at the top of the list of NGS sequencers for small genome sequencing.

KCRI can now provide the following services using this technology: amplicon sequencing, small genome re-sequencing, metagenomics, and small genome de novo sequencing.

An Insectory unit and an animal house are connected to the Biotechnology Laboratory and currently support research operations of the Parasitology and Entomology division.

The KCRI Bioinformatics Unit is developing a knowledge base and toolchain for genomics data analysis.

The unit's goal is to identify infectious agent strains to uncover drug resistance patterns and outbreak sources through molecular relatedness analysis in close collaboration with the KCRI Genomics Unit.

At the moment, KCRI Bioinformatics provides a variety of genomics data analysis services.

Genome assembly, sequence typing, resistance gene identification, and phylogeny analysis are all part of this. The Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute and the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) are actively working to expand its functionality.

5. LyfPlus

LyfPlus is a digital clinic that provides Tanzanians with access to medical services at any time and from any location. A mobile app allows users to consult a doctor online, book appointments, and obtain prescriptions for their medical condition. The following are the main features of the patient app:

• Consultation with Doctors: Locate doctors of various specialties in Tanzania and consult with them via video, voice, and text.
• Appointment Scheduling: Avoid standing in line when visiting Dar hospitals. Schedule your appointments to save both time and money.
• Medical Tours: If you need to travel to another country for medical treatment, we have you covered. Tanzania's very first medical tourism solution.
• Forums and Communities: Find health information, ask questions about health, and stay up to date on current health issues.
• Lyfplus PHRs enable users to store and manage their health records as they are created to ensure quality continuity of care.
• Home Health Services: This service connects patients with the best practitioners in Dar es Salaam for child psychology, elderly care, physical therapy, and other fields.

Doctors can work independently and supplement their income with LyfPlus. This telemedicine platform has additional benefits.

LyfPlus enables doctors to register their regular patients for online consultations or private visits. This saves patients time and money spent on transportation and queuing in hospitals.

Practice management is another advantage for Doctors. To maximize the potential of virtual practice, doctors can set the number of appointments per day, their available time, and their weekly timetable.

So, in a nutshell, LyfPlus is a telemedicine company working on digital healthcare solutions allowing virtual doctor consultations, appointment booking, and e-prescription services to make healthcare more accessible, affordable, and convenient.

6. Dawa Mkononi (DM)

Dawa Mkononi is a company that specializes in pharmaceutical supply chain technology. DM is on a mission to solve medicine distribution problems in both urban and rural Africa by leveraging data. They want to make sure that inventory is properly managed across all pharmaceutical facilities.

The app's sourcing center, DM Pharmacy, is in Kariakoo, Dar es Salaam. In a wholesale business-to-business model, the Dawa Mkononi platform currently only serves pharmacies, accredited drug dispensing outlets (ADDOs), and health facilities such as hospitals and clinics.

Dawa Mkononi placed second in the Southern Africa Innovation Support (SAIS) BoostUp! 2022 competition.

Conclusion

There are many drivers of health technology in Tanzania. One of the most important is the government’s commitment to improving access to quality healthcare for all its citizens.

In recent years, the government, through the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, has made significant investments in health infrastructure and personnel, which has helped to improve access to care across the country. Dr. Ntuli A. Kapologwe, President's Office Director of Health, Social Welfare, and Nutrition Services, has also played an important role in driving health sector transformation.

Another driver of health technology in Tanzania is the growing prevalence of non-communicable diseases (NCDs).

NCDs are a major burden on the country’s healthcare system, and there is a need for better diagnosis and treatment options. The introduction of new technologies can help to address this challenge.

Finally, another driver of health technology in Tanzania is the increasing demand from patients for more information and transparency about their care.

Patients want to be able to make informed decisions about their treatment options, and they expect providers to be transparent about costs and outcomes. New technologies can help meet these demands by providing patients with more data about their condition and treatment options.

Initiatives such as the recently concluded Tanzania Health Summit 2022 are positive steps forward in the development of Tanzanian health technology.

The event brought together key stakeholders to discuss how to improve access to quality healthcare in Tanzania. Recommendations from the summit will help inform future policy and investments in health technology, which is critical for achieving Universal Health Coverage in Tanzania.