SENEGAL— The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA) and Speak Up Africa have jointly announced the second edition of the Africa Young Innovators for Health Award for four innovative African youth in healthcare.
The award will recognize and reward innovative projects by young African entrepreneurs in the health sector on the continent especially those that support attainment of Universal Health Coverage.
The first prize award is a financial boost of US$90,000 as well as a 3-month long business mentorship program, training in media techniques, expert advice on intellectual property protection as well as access to a network of partners in the digital, healthcare, and media sectors.
The first edition was launched back in September 2021, where 300 applications were received, 60 were selected, 15 were shortlisted and 3 won the prize.
According to IPMA, they sought innovative solutions aimed at supporting health professionals who are leading the way in delivering care and promoting health.
Applications were judged based on the project’s innovation, development potential, and measurable and sustainable impact in supporting healthcare professionals.
The award is also supported by AMREF Health Africa, BroadReach, Ecobank Academy, the Galien Foundation, IntraHealth International, Microsoft 4 Afrika, RBM Partnership to End Malaria, Social Change Factory, Africa.com, and Scidev.net.
Last cycle winners had developed innovations to assist in cancer diagnosis, health worker development, and patient record retrieval.
First-place winner Dr. Conrad Tankou, CEO of Global Innovation and Creativity Space in Cameroon developed GICMED, a suite of medical technologies that helps to screen and diagnose breast and cervical cancer in women.
Dr. Tankou on the occasion noted, “With the Award’s financial and business mentorship support, we can upgrade our technologies and start scaling our solution much quicker by investing in manufacturing capabilities and building more local partnerships.”
In second place was John Mwangi, CEO of Daktari Media Africa in Kenya, who established Daktari Online, which provides a professional development platform for healthcare workers.
John Mwangi, CEO of Daktari Media Africa, won second place in the Africa Young Innovators for Health Award.
Currently, 13,000 health workers use the platform, and it has been accredited by regulatory bodies for pharmacists, pharmaceutical technologists, and physician assistants.
The third-place winner, Dr. Imodoye Abioro, CEO of Healthbotics in Nigeria, developed an artificial intelligence (AI) powered electronic medical record system, Mediverse, that utilizes blockchain to help healthcare workers input and retrieve patient records.
The technology could work on any device and even in places where the internet has not yet reached.
“Mediverse is what we consider to be a solution that will be necessary for us to build a sustainable healthcare infrastructure in Africa,” Dr. Abioro remarked at the award reception ceremony.
Furthermore, with only one-fifth of applications to the innovation award coming from women, the IFPMA and Speak Up Africa launched the Women Innovators Incubator to address the gaps in female-led innovation.
Three female participants will receive financial support, mentorship, media training, expert advice on intellectual property protection, and access to a network of global health experts.
Youth-centered Initiatives on the Continent
To accelerate COVID-19 jabs on the continent, the African Union and Africa CDC launched a youth vaccination campaign the “Bingwa Initiative” which aims to help vaccinate at least 100 million Africans, including 30 million youth.
In another example, Africa’s largest gathering of health professionals, the International Conference on Public Health in Africa, hosted by Africa CDC, was preceded by the first youth pre-conference aimed at spurring youth engagement on regional public health issues.
Ground Up! is a UNICEF Africa Regional Office and Y+ Global collaboration, made possible with support from the Government of Sweden, is a youth-led program to ensure Sexual and reproductive health issues are addressed adequately.
In 2022, UNFPA, the United Nations Sexual and reproductive health agency, announced the launch of two Innovation Crowdsourcing HackLabs for young African innovators and youth-led hubs based in Africa.
As well as, the Mentally Aware Nigeria Initiative, one of Africa’s largest user-led youth mental health networks.
Universal Health Coverage as the anchor
Most African countries have UHC as a goal in their national health strategies and yet, progress has been slow, notes Dr. Karim Bendhaou, Africa Engagement Committee Chair, IFPMA
Countries that achieve their UHC targets by 2030 will eliminate preventable maternal and child deaths, strengthen resilience to public health emergencies, reduce financial hardship linked to illness, and fortify the foundations for long-term economic growth.
The WHO-Africa, Tracking Universal Health Coverage in the WHO African Region 2022, recognizes that member States can invest in their health systems in a cross-cutting manner, ensuring that the results from these investments benefit multiple services.
Nevertheless, there is currently not enough technical and political capital to move health systems closer to achieving UHC.
During this Decade of Action, the countries of the WHO African Region definitely need a push to help them achieve UHC and other health-related Sustainable development goals.
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