medicine technology Archives - AfricaBusiness.com

10Jun

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Medicine, South Africa News

$3 Million Pre-Series A Round Leads to New Digital Primary Care Platform for Africa

Following a pre-Series A round of USD 3 million, Webrock, the investment company that brought the number one digital health app in Brazil to South America, and Healthforce, a digital health company majority-owned by South Africa’s leading retail pharmacy chain Dis-Chem, will be taking the cutting-edge technology behind the second most downloaded doctor app in Europe, Doktor.se, to Africa. Doing so will provide the continent with a complete digital primary care platform. It will first be launching in South Africa, with a further continent-wide roll-out planned. The platform, which makes use of a freemium model and innovative approaches to reduce data costs, offers on-demand and scheduled consultations with nurses, general practitioners, and mental health professionals, while also providing ...

Govt urged to embrace the power of tech in delivery of primary healthcare for all

Research released this week show the real potential that technology has in the effective delivery of primary healthcare services across South Africa. The research, says trans-disciplinary health consultancy Percept, should be used as a road map to better healthcare services for all in the country. “We looked at practical examples from across Africa and researched how other countries used technology in their specific environments. Our work shows that a lot can be achieved despite existing problems such as poor technological literacy, poor uptake of smartphone capabilities, or poor power supply,” says Shivani Ranchod, CEO of Percept. “We will be sharing our findings with key stakeholders in the health sector and hope that it will be valuable for their work to improve healthcare service deli...

54gene unveils world-class scientific research laboratory in Lagos State, Nigeria

54gene has unveiled its new lab in Lagos State, Nigeria, capable of human whole genome sequencing and a variety of other scientific investigations. Hosting a suite of world-class molecular genomics capabilities, including the Illumina Novaseq 6000 and NextSeq 550Dx the lab is part of 54gene’s mission to enable Africans to conduct genomics research and will be fully operational from January 2021. The new lab, recently inspected by the Commissioner of Health for Lagos State, Prof. Akin Abayomi, is geared to crucially expedite internal and external research projects designed to facilitate precision medicine for Africans and the global population. 54gene is currently conducting research to discover novel biological insights based on genetic modifiers, by deriving information from its unique a...