Good health is one of the most basic essential primary needs an individual must obtain in order to live a happy and comfortable life. By implication good health involves a feeling of well being that is enjoyed by a person when the body systems are functioning effectively and efficiently together in harmony with environment.
While there has been a significant advancement in health on citizens in the state, it is no doubt that the medical facilities and health care systems in the country are limited and thus creates the inability to effectively address the country’s numerous public health challenges.
This is a challenge Clafiya, a digital tech platform is trying to tackle.
Clafiya links patients in rural and semi-urban areas to Community Health Workers (CWHs). It provides primary health care services to people from the comfort of their homes.
Co-founders Jennie Nwokoye and Itoro Inoyo established this idea in order to build a medical system to cater to the Nigerian population. The platform was built to meet customers wherever they are.
Jennie related her experience of witnessing the ills of the Nigerian health sector to an online publication saying “Imaging having family members and friends who have either died or had close calls because they weren’t able to access healthcare”.
This prompted the mission to build a system outside of the typical hospital setting.
A large percentage of the population in the country is still not connected to the internet and although the internet business is on a high scale most people are still left behind. This is what Clafiya is trying to handle and help proffer solutions to the health needs of the minority population.
The platform can be accessed through either registration or appointment scheduling processes.
It works via a USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Service Data) short code *347*58# which enables potential customers to access its services. Patients can register, pick their desired plan, schedule appointments, and get connected with health workers nearest to them at affordable prices.
Clafiya seeks to improve the life expectancy of people and reduce healthcare expenditure. It is also re-writing the narrative of under employed women in Africa by increasing job opportunities for them in the health sector. This digital platform seems promising and the reviews from its customers are by far very commendable.
It is one of many tech startups being entirely run by two female founders.
“No matter your race, gender or socioeconomic status, health is a fundamental human right and no one should be left out”, Itoro Inoyo – co-founder, Clafiya.
