[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"$fAfAaROZECZXRbsj56kARStJyZbuq595in59dkstHUxQ":3,"_apollo:default":12},{"id":4,"title":5,"featuredImage":6,"date":9,"content":10,"excerpt":11},"cG9zdDoyNDc=","Rural-urban Divide Hampering Digital Health Innovation in Kenya",{"node":7},{"sourceUrl":8},"https:\u002F\u002Fblog.qhala.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2021\u002F06\u002FQhala-Innovation-1024x512.jpg","2021-11-08T11:44:38","\u003Cp id=\"2768\" class=\"hm hn dn ho b hp hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib ic id ie if ig ih ii ij df ek\" data-selectable-paragraph=\"\">Just as the Ebola and now the Covid-19 crises galvanised digital health innovation, across Africa, the Covid-19 pandemic brought with it a surge of Kenyan digital health innovation in the health sector. However, infrastructure and other challenges continue to limit the reach of health digital innovations.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp id=\"5229\" class=\"hm hn dn ho b hp hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib ic id ie if ig ih ii ij df ek\" data-selectable-paragraph=\"\">\u003Ca class=\"bt il\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fdisrupt-africa.com\u002F2021\u002F04\u002F26\u002Fkenyan-e-health-startup-tibu-raises-seed-funding-round-to-help-it-scale\u002F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Tibu Health\u003C\u002Fa>, \u003Ca class=\"bt il\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fzuri.health\u002F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener ugc nofollow\">Zuri Health\u003C\u002Fa>, \u003Ca class=\"bt il\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fnadiaapp.com\u002F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener ugc nofollow\">Nadia\u003C\u002Fa>, \u003Ca class=\"bt il\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fteleafya.com\u002Fhome\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener ugc nofollow\">TeleAfya\u003C\u002Fa> and \u003Ca class=\"bt il\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.pendahealth.com\u002F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener ugc nofollow\">Penda Health\u003C\u002Fa> are examples of telemedicine apps that connect patients to doctors and other primary healthcare workers, local pharmacies, ride share apps etc affordably. \u003Ca class=\"bt il\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fdamu-sasa.co.ke\u002F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener ugc nofollow\">Damu-Sasa\u003C\u002Fa> helps hospitals source blood from donors and from other hospitals, while tracking the donation histories.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp class=\"hm hn dn ho b hp hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib ic id ie if ig ih ii ij df ek\" data-selectable-paragraph=\"\">\u003Ca class=\"bt il\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Filarahealth.com\u002F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener ugc nofollow\">Ilara Health\u003C\u002Fa> offers affordable mobile phone and tablet-based diagnostic equipment to patients and healthcare providers in peri-urban areas. \u003Ca class=\"bt il\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.afyapoa.co.ke\u002Fproducts.php\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener ugc nofollow\">Afya Poa\u003C\u002Fa> allows users to pay for health insurance premiums on a daily basis for inpatient care and save for outpatient care.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp class=\"hm hn dn ho b hp hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib ic id ie if ig ih ii ij df ek\" data-selectable-paragraph=\"\">The product extends the cover to the user’s family. \u003Ca class=\"bt il\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcema.africa\u002F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener ugc nofollow\">CEMA\u003C\u002Fa>, a platform developed in a partnership between innovation lab \u003Ca class=\"bt il\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fqhala.com\u002F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener ugc nofollow\">Qhala\u003C\u002Fa>, the University of Nairobi and Kenya’s Ministry of Health, aggregates epidemiological data from government and other sources and uses data engineering and data visualisation to make the data accessible to the general public for research purposes.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp id=\"c117\" class=\"hm hn dn ho b hp hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib ic id ie if ig ih ii ij df ek\" data-selectable-paragraph=\"\">This surge was made possible partly by a supportive regulatory framework. Kenya’s National E-Health Policy 2016–2030 prioritises, among others, the development and use of mobile technologies for health (M-Health), as a means of delivering quality health care to all.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp class=\"hm hn dn ho b hp hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib ic id ie if ig ih ii ij df ek\" data-selectable-paragraph=\"\">There is, arguably, space for more digital health innovation in the areas of maternal health, contact tracing, mental health, health data and others that would strengthen Kenya’s chronically underfunded health sector. However, systemic challenges continue to deepen a pre-existing urban-rural divide, hampering the ability of digital health innovation to scale.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch2>Systemic Challenges Affecting Digital Health Innovation Growth\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\u003Ch3 id=\"6502\" class=\"hm hn dn ho b hp hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib ic id ie if ig ih ii ij df ek\">\u003Cstrong class=\"ho ik\">Infrastructure\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\u003Cfigure class=\"gz ha hb hc hd he cr cs paragraph-image\">\n\u003Cdiv class=\"hf hg hh hi aj hj\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\">\n\u003Cdiv class=\"cr cs gy\">\n\u003Cdiv class=\"ir s hh is\">\n\u003Cdiv class=\"it iu s\">\n\u003Cdiv class=\"im in t u v io aj au ip iq\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cp>\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" class=\"kv qc t u v io aj c alignnone\" role=\"presentation\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmiro.medium.com\u002Fmax\u002F700\u002F1*5fzuZ92Kq2-hIdkMhoLPxg.jpeg\" sizes=\"700px\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmiro.medium.com\u002Fmax\u002F276\u002F1*5fzuZ92Kq2-hIdkMhoLPxg.jpeg 276w, https:\u002F\u002Fmiro.medium.com\u002Fmax\u002F552\u002F1*5fzuZ92Kq2-hIdkMhoLPxg.jpeg 552w, https:\u002F\u002Fmiro.medium.com\u002Fmax\u002F640\u002F1*5fzuZ92Kq2-hIdkMhoLPxg.jpeg 640w, https:\u002F\u002Fmiro.medium.com\u002Fmax\u002F700\u002F1*5fzuZ92Kq2-hIdkMhoLPxg.jpeg 700w\" alt=\"digital health innovation\" width=\"736\" height=\"368\" \u002F>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\u003Cp id=\"5b59\" class=\"hm hn dn ho b hp hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib ic id ie if ig ih ii ij df ek\" data-selectable-paragraph=\"\">Digital innovations, including health innovations, in Kenya tend to be concentrated in urban and peri-urban areas for reasons related to infrastructure. Grid power is uneven in the rural areas, making the cost of internet connectivity higher in rural areas than it is in urban areas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp class=\"hm hn dn ho b hp hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib ic id ie if ig ih ii ij df ek\" data-selectable-paragraph=\"\">This high cost, combined with the fact that incomes are generally lower in rural areas, is part of the reason why only 17% of rural populations in Kenya have access to the internet, compared to 44% in urban areas, according to \u003Ca class=\"bt il\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fdocuments1.worldbank.org\u002Fcurated\u002Fen\u002F968481572468094731\u002Fpdf\u002FKenya-Economic-Update-Securing-Future-Growth-Policies-to-Support-Kenya-s-Digital-Transformation.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener ugc nofollow\">World Bank\u003C\u002Fa> statistics. Access to 4G internet is still largely concentrated in and around urban centres\u003Ca class=\"bt il\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedium.com\u002Fqhalahq\u002Frural-urban-divide-hampering-digital-health-innovation-in-kenya-aa621854f3fa#_ftn1\" rel=\"noopener ugc nofollow\">[1]\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch3 id=\"f500\" class=\"hm hn dn ho b hp hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib ic id ie if ig ih ii ij df ek\">\u003Cstrong class=\"ho ik\">Innovation ecosystem\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\u003Cp id=\"0329\" class=\"hm hn dn ho b hp hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib ic id ie if ig ih ii ij df ek\" data-selectable-paragraph=\"\">In addition to infrastructure challenges, as Jacob Mugendi of Engineering for Change \u003Ca class=\"bt il\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.engineeringforchange.org\u002Fnews\u002Fchallenges-implementing-digital-technologies-rural-kenya\u002F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener ugc nofollow\">points out\u003C\u002Fa>, innovation hubs tend to be located in urban areas not rural areas, contributing to the lack of an innovation ecosystem outside of the cities. This locks out of the digital scene potential local innovators who understand local problems that need solutions.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ch3 id=\"98b9\" class=\"hm hn dn ho b hp hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib ic id ie if ig ih ii ij df ek\">\u003Cstrong class=\"ho ik\">Low digital literacy\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh3>\n\u003Cp id=\"1685\" class=\"hm hn dn ho b hp hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib ic id ie if ig ih ii ij df ek\" data-selectable-paragraph=\"\">Despite the roll-out of the Kenyan government’s Digital Literacy Programme, many schools across the country, particularly primary schools, still do not have computers or access to them. Digital literacy levels remain low. Where digital tools are in use there is low availability of support, particularly for older, less savvy users\u003Ca class=\"bt il\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedium.com\u002Fqhalahq\u002Frural-urban-divide-hampering-digital-health-innovation-in-kenya-aa621854f3fa#_ftn2\" rel=\"noopener ugc nofollow\">[2]\u003C\u002Fa>. Despite Kenya’s high smartphone penetration, digital health innovation in general tend to be the preserve of residents of urban and peri-urban areas.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp id=\"d291\" class=\"hm hn dn ho b hp hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib ic id ie if ig ih ii ij df ek\" data-selectable-paragraph=\"\">These challenges are, in reality, three aspects of the same persistent rural-urban divide, deepened by systemic factors. Until these challenges are addressed, or until the digital health apps are designed to be more inclusive, the digital health innovation will not be able to scale within the country, no matter how much funding they are able to secure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp id=\"db88\" class=\"hm hn dn ho b hp hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib ic id ie if ig ih ii ij df ek\" data-selectable-paragraph=\"\">\u003Ca class=\"bt il\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedium.com\u002Fqhalahq\u002Frural-urban-divide-hampering-digital-health-innovation-in-kenya-aa621854f3fa#_ftnref1\" rel=\"noopener ugc nofollow\">[1]\u003C\u002Fa> \u003Ca class=\"bt il\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.engineeringforchange.org\u002Fnews\u002Fchallenges-implementing-digital-technologies-rural-kenya\u002F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener ugc nofollow\">https:\u002F\u002Fwww.engineeringforchange.org\u002Fnews\u002Fchallenges-implementing-digital-technologies-rural-kenya\u002F\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp id=\"beb8\" class=\"hm hn dn ho b hp hq hr hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib ic id ie if ig ih ii ij df ek\" data-selectable-paragraph=\"\">\u003Ca class=\"bt il\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedium.com\u002Fqhalahq\u002Frural-urban-divide-hampering-digital-health-innovation-in-kenya-aa621854f3fa#_ftnref2\" rel=\"noopener ugc nofollow\">[2]\u003C\u002Fa> \u003Ca class=\"bt il\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.engineeringforchange.org\u002Fnews\u002Fchallenges-implementing-digital-technologies-rural-kenya\u002F\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener ugc nofollow\">https:\u002F\u002Fwww.engineeringforchange.org\u002Fnews\u002Fchallenges-implementing-digital-technologies-rural-kenya\u002F\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cdiv class=\"mceTemp\">\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\u003Cp style=\"text-align: center;\">\n","\u003Cp>Digital innovations, including health innovations, in Kenya tend to be concentrated in urban and peri-urban areas for reasons related to infrastructure. Grid power is uneven in the rural areas, making the cost of internet connectivity higher in rural areas than it is in urban areas. This high cost, combined with the fact that incomes are generally lower in rural areas, is part of the reason why only 17% of rural populations in Kenya have access to the internet, compared to 44% in urban areas, according to World Bank statistics. Access to 4G internet is still largely concentrated in and around urban centers[1].\u003C\u002Fp>\n",{"Bizzbar:cG9zdDoxNDcw":13,"ROOT_QUERY":24},["null","__typename",14,"id",15,"status",16,"bizzbars",17],"Bizzbar","cG9zdDoxNDcw","publish",["null","__typename",18,"ctaButtonText",19,"description",20,"enabled",21,"link",22,"external",23],"Bizzbar_Bizzbars","Get it here","Gates Report: Bridging Africa’s Smartphone Divide Insights from 10 Countries",true,"\u002Freports\u002Fgates-report-bridging-africas-smartphone-divide-insights-from-10-countries",null,["null","__typename",25,"bizzbars({\"where\":{\"status\":\"PUBLISH\"}})",26,"focusAreas",31],"Query",["null","__typename",27,"nodes",28],"RootQueryToBizzbarConnection",[29],{"__ref":30},"Bizzbar:cG9zdDoxNDcw",["null","__typename",32,"nodes",33],"RootQueryToFocusAreaConnection",[34,45,52],["null","__typename",35,"title",36,"slug",37,"focusAreas",38],"FocusArea","Health Care and Life Sciences","health-care-and-life-sciences",["null","__typename",39,"banner",40],"FocusArea_Focusareas",["null","__typename",41,"bannerCenter",42],"FocusArea_Focusareas_Banner",["null","__typename",43,"sourceUrl",44],"MediaItem","https:\u002F\u002Fblog.qhala.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2024\u002F12\u002Fhealth-life-sciences-focus-area-center@3x.jpg",["null","__typename",35,"title",46,"slug",47,"focusAreas",48],"Financial Services","financial-services",["null","__typename",39,"banner",49],["null","__typename",41,"bannerCenter",50],["null","__typename",43,"sourceUrl",51],"https:\u002F\u002Fblog.qhala.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2024\u002F12\u002Ffinancial-services-focus-area-center@3x.jpg",["null","__typename",35,"title",53,"slug",54,"focusAreas",55],"Digital Economy","digital-economy",["null","__typename",39,"banner",56],["null","__typename",41,"bannerCenter",57],["null","__typename",43,"sourceUrl",58],"https:\u002F\u002Fblog.qhala.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2024\u002F12\u002Fdigital-economy-focus-area-center@3x.jpg"]