Category Archives: Medicine

Medicine in Africa, Medicine News

Investing in Innovation Africa announces its second call for applications to support African startups in healthcare supply chains

Applications are open for early and growth-stage health tech innovators  Investing in Innovation Africa (i3), a pan-African initiative for start-ups building the future of healthcare supply chains, is calling for leading innovators to join its second cohort. Funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and sponsored by AmerisourceBergen, Merck Sharpe & Dohme (MSD), Microsoft […]

Fast-Tracking Universal Health Coverage in 2023: It’s time to focus on innovation and knowledge partnerships

by Basil Malaki, Knowledge Transfer Manager for Kenya at Innovate UK KTN Global Alliance Africa As the leading economy in East Africa, it is no surprise that Kenya often ranks top across several developmental indicators. In terms of economic growth, the country has maintained an annual GDP growth rate of 5% with GDP per capita […]

Fedhealth to offer genetic testing to improve members’ health

Fedhealth partners with Intelligene to offer personalised genetic testing for its members A new partnership between Fedhealth Medical Scheme and medical bio-tech company Intelligene offers exciting opportunities for genetic testing to improve the efficiency of medication, mitigate health risks by identifying possible future illnesses, and even optimise an individual’s lifestyle by pinpointing the nutrition and […]

Trends in global healthcare shifts the focus to innovative skills development

Over the past two years, global healthcare systems have faced significant disruption and strain due to the Covid-19 Pandemic. During this time, the skills and dedication of nurses and doctors – as frontline workers – have been highlighted. These skills now face a further, possibly bigger, challenge. How do we translate these skills into an […]

The 10th annual Africa Health Conference & Congress is to be Held in Johannesburg with Focus on Digital Health and Health Technology in Africa

Johannesburg will host Africa’s largest gathering of medical and healthcare professionals next week, at Gallagher Estate. The role of digital health and health technology in achieving a sustainable health system in Africa will be one of the key themes at this year’s Africa Health Conference.   This is the 10th edition of Africa Health Conference and […]

How AI is Transforming Paediatric Radiology in Africa

The 10th annual AFRICA HEALTH CONGRESS will be held at Gallagher Estate from 26-28 October. This year’s Congress is expected to include representatives from 56 countries and offer free CPD conferences. A possible topic of interest at this year’s event is discussed in the content below. This article looks at the reasons why African radiology […]

30 African Startups in Healthcare Supply Chains Selected for Support from Gates Foundation, MSD, WHO-AFRO and More

The i3 program is excited to announce the selection of 30 African startups that are leading the way in innovative health solutions. These startups come from 14 different countries and are working on novel solutions for device and medicine distribution, stock management and financing, authentication, traceability, medical waste management and more. 47% of the companies […]

Vaccinations: Beyond Covid-19 Hesitancy

What are the ethical, legal and human rights considerations in preparing for future pandemics and human disasters in Africa? Pandemics constitute major public health concerns that affect the entire population, causing widespread human suffering, often requiring population-scale behavioural change, and bringing in myriad new ethical, legal, and medical practice paradigms. The past two years have […]

World Trade Organization waives intellectual property rights to support vaccine production in Africa

By Virusha Subban, Partner and Head of Indirect Tax, Baker McKenzie Johannesburg The World Trade Organisation (WTO) announced in June an agreement to waive the intellectual property rights that usually apply in the manufacturing of vaccines, to assist the production of COVID-19 vaccines in developing countries. The measures were proposed to the WTO by the South African and […]

Now in South Africa, the AfyaRekod Universal Patient Portal is empowering patients to take charge of their healthcare

AfyaRekod has launched the fully automated Universal Patient Portal in South Africa and it is ready to change the face of patient care across the country, Africa, and the world.  Using block-chain driven technology the Universal Patient Portal is a secure central, mobile platform where patients and the medical professionals treating them have real-time access […]

3 Things to Consider When Opening a Medical Practice in Africa

People living in the African continent have traditionally had limited access to modern resources, including quality medical care. This has led dozens of talented medical professionals to uproot and open their very own medical practice in the heart of Africa. While this is a noble pursuit, relocating to an entirely new continent can be a […]

DrugStoc Secures $4.4M in Series A Funding to Expand Access to Quality Pharmaceuticals in Africa

Healthtech startup, DrugStoc has raised USD 4.4 million in Series A funding to expand access to quality medicines while providing sustainable supply chain financing for healthcare providers in Sub-Saharan Africa. The funding round is led by Africa HealthCare Master Fund (AAIC), and other investors include Chicago-based venture firm Vested World and the German Development Bank […]

Quality and Patient Care takes centre stage at Africa Health Conference

Upwards of 5000 health professionals and 200 international and regional companies have registered for this year’s Africa Health Conference, which got underway today (Monday). The largest health conference in Africa, this online event  brings Africa’s healthcare industry together to discuss and explore innovative new thinking and solutions around Africa’s healthcare challenges. Now in its 10th year, […]

Cleaning up SA’s pharmaceutical industry

The global cleanroom technology market size is expected to reach USD 5.0 billion by 2028 and is expected to expand at a rate of 5.4% over the forecast period. Key factors driving market growth is growing compliance with stringent regulatory standards for new product approvals and increased awareness about contamination-free products.[i] Despite the Covid-19 pandemic […]

54gene Closes $25M Series B to Advance Global Drug Discovery Capabilities

Cathay Africinvest Innovation leads round as company expands precision medicine capabilities across the African continent 54gene, the health technology company advancing African genomics research for improved global health outcomes, has secured $25M in a Series B round, led by Cathay AfricInvest Innovation Fund. The round also included participation from Adjuvant Capital, KdT Ventures, Plexo Capital, […]

Collaborating for the benefit of employee mental health

Sir Ian Cheshire Chair, The Global Business Collaboration for Better Workplace Mental Health Before the Covid 19 pandemic hit, mental health was already an issue on the rise around the world, with an estimated 13% of the global population, just short of 1 billion people suffering from some kind of mental illness. In South Africa, according to statistics […]

Vaccine production in Africa key to pandemic-proofing the Continent

The unprecedented speed of development of the Covid-19 vaccines can be attributed to multiple factors including record levels of international collaboration and swift action on the part of many governments and regulatory bodies to provide a conducive framework.    As every nation across the globe faced impending economic doom, massive cross-sector funding materialised, allowing large-scale […]

Tech Tools Could Streamline SA’s Vaccine Rollout

Did you know that over three billion messages related to COVID-19 have been sent by governments, non-profits and international organisations to citizens via official WhatsApp chatbots[i]? The South African government was one of the first to harness the power of the platform to share correct, up-to-date COVID-19 information from the National Department of Health, but […]

Tailor-made solutions needed to build resilient health systems in Africa

The Covid-19 pandemic has placed a severe strain on the health system in the world and many healthcare workers have been stretched far beyond their capacity. For most African countries, balancing a response to the pandemic with the challenges of providing universal health care has highlighted the need for resilient health systems that will address […]

The Future of Work in Healthcare: five insights on how technology can help realise health equity

How can new digital ways of working in the healthcare sector improve outcomes for patients to increase global health equity in the COVID-19 era and beyond? And do we have reason to be optimistic? These were the questions tackled by a panel of globally recognised health-tech experts in a recent webinar for the African healthcare […]