(L-R): Country Head- KSA Boehringer Ingelheim Mohamed Bayoumy and Founder iSikcure Dr. Moka Lantum pose for a photo during the launch ISikcure Mobile App at the Sarova Panafric Hotel, Nairobi

A new integrated health app has been launched in the country to enable Kenyans access medical practitioners for a range of solutions to their health conditions from the comfort of their mobile phones.

The app known as iSikCure, launched today at the Sarova Panafric Hotel, is a subscription free project that aims at improving access levels to quality care and safe medicine across Kenya.

(L-R): Country Head- KSA Boehringer Ingelheim Mohamed Bayoumy and Founder iSikcure Dr. Moka Lantum pose for a photo during the launch ISikcure Mobile App at the Sarova Panafric Hotel, Nairobi

The app is a service that offers convenience and choice with a range of benefits for the patients and providers.

iSikCure has been developed with the support of Boehringer Ingelheim, one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) umbrella Making More Health (MMH). MMH is a global initiative in partnership with Ashoka, a global organization that identifies and invests in leading innovative and practical ideas to solve social challenges.

Through iSikCure, patients can connect and communicate with doctors, laboratories, pharmacies and wellness providers, and pay for the health services received from their mobile phones. This helps to enable them to save on the overall cost of care and medicines. It further provides convenience, control and preference.

Similarly, health providers benefit from increased traffic to members’ facilities, manage schedule and wait times through mobile phones, get pre-paid by patients of family members near and far, earn loyalty MedPoints that can be redeemed when purchasing medicines from distributors and receive a preferred access to select brands and generic medicines from participating distributors at whole sale price.

Serial Entrepreneur, and Ashoka Fellow, Dr. Moka Lantum, CEO of Sagitarix Limited, and the founder of iSikCure said, “Access has always been an ongoing issue, coupled with the affordability of care which is reflected in the USD 5.3 billion in unmet demand for medicines in East Africa. This is due to multiple complications such as unsafe medicines, counterfeit and variable drug costs.”

In Kenya, 1.7 million households report an illness every four weeks[1]. Additionally, approximately six million adult Kenyans with diabetes and hypertension need follow-up care every four weeks[2]. Yet, access to information on where, when and how to seek quality care, diagnostics and medicines is a challenge for households in Kenya and in Africa as a whole.

Dr. Moka also noted, “The iSikCure app effectively addresses the many challenges patients and healthcare providers face, from having direct access to available services, to having patient record on-line securely. It further provides a real added value service to all players in the healthcare sector in Kenya and across Africa.

iSikCure is built on a strong innovation platform that connects patients to the right healthcare services, and ensures that care received is safe, affordable and of high quality. This unique platform adds more value to Kenya’s healthcare system by providing convenient, trustworthy, and a fully integrated solution to patients, healthcare providers, distributors and wholesalers, as well as employers. “

Dr. Mohamed Bayoumy, Country Head of Boehringer Ingelheim in Saudi Arabia and iSikcure Project Manager said, “Our work is directed towards enhancing the level of healthcare in Kenya, and support in developing the right infrastructure. At Boehringer Ingelheim, we are committed to driving stronger health outcomes across the continuum of care in Kenya to address a broad range of challenges that include general lack of awareness around chronic diseases and risk factors, poor infrastructure for care of acute and chronic diseases, along with the emergency of priority disease areas such as hypertension, diabetes and stroke.”

The launch of iSikCure comes as part of the‘Making More Health’, a long-term initiative and partnership between Boehringer Ingelheim and Ashoka that aims at driving social and economic impact across the healthcare sector.

It works by facilitating innovation and social entrepreneurship for enhanced health while also fostering the co-creation of new and sustainable business modules to bring business and knowledge together and ultimately drive social value across local communities.

[1]Source: 2013 Kenya Household Health Expenditure & Utilization Survey

[2] PM Chege (2016). Multiple cardiovascular disease risk factors in rural Kenya: evidence from a health and demographic surveillance system using the WHO STEP-wise approach to chronic disease risk factor surveillance. South African Family Practice, 58:2, 54-61

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