Description of Session
Individuals in sub-Saharan Africa often struggle to afford healthcare, let alone quality services, due to barriers including lack of investments in health facilities, inadequately trained staff as well as geographic disparities and transportation challenges; women face the disproportionate additional barrier of gender. Since 2015, through a digital health platform (coined M-TIBA in Kenya) featuring a mobile phone enabled ‘wallet’, CarePay (a Kenyan social enterprise), Safaricom (the largest mobile network provider) and Amsterdam based non-profit PharmAccess have worked to provide millions of low income individuals and families with access to affordable, quality healthcare. M-TIBA connects patients, providers and payers to ensure quality, affordable health care, through channeling of ring fenced healthcare funds directly into the mobile ‘wallets’ of patients, who use these funds to access care at selected health facilities. These facilities are supported by PharmAccess’ ‘SafeCare’ methodology, a set of standards designed to support facilities in improving the quality of their services. In addition, the Medical Credit Fund (MCF), a subsidiary of PharmAccess, provides much needed loans to enable facilities to invest in infrastructure. M-TIBA enables and empowers individuals to take responsibility for their own health; with a simple mobile registration (no smart phone necessary), individuals can save and pay for their health care, including population specific needs such as MNCH. For providers, the platform provides real time data collection tools to support clinics in managing their business and service delivery, whilst governments can better identify and target financial support. This session will discuss how M-TIBA capitalises on mobile technology to create cashless clinics in Kenya and Nigeria, reaching those until now excluded. It will discuss how PharmAccess works with governments to incorporate M-TIBA within their national health insurance aspirations and create more transparent, effective health systems, key to achieving UHC.
