Using mobile technology to break access and awareness barriers in hypertension and diabetes: that is what the new ‘Tiba Yako’ program strives for. The initiative for the program was launched today in Nairobi, Kenya, by Boehringer Ingelheim, one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies and PharmAccess, a non-profit organization that works to improve access to quality healthcare in Africa.
The Tiba Yako program screens and directly supports positively screened patients with awareness, access and adherence to diabetes and hypertension care. The mobile phone is the linking pin in this integrated approach.
(TOP: L -R- Isaiah Okoth, Country Director, PharmAccess; Reuben Magoko, National Chairman, Kenya Defeat Diabetes Association – KDDA; Angela Siteyi, Project Director, Pharm Access; and Ayman Eissa, Head of Human Pharmaceuticals for sub-Saharan Africa, Boehringer Ingelheim).
PharmAccess and partners developed a digital payment platform for healthcare called M-TIBA. M-TIBA provides access to healthcare by connecting people to clinics and healthcare funders, directly through a wallet on their mobile phone, and exchanging money and data between them. Within the Tiba Yako program, the platform will now also provide access support for hypertension and diabetes care in the mobile wallets of low income patients, which they can use to co-pay for care at selected clinics in Nairobi, Kiambu and Vihiga Country.
Moreover, the program allows patients to monitor their blood pressure and blood glucose levels at their convenience at home, digitally sending the results to their doctor for review. Combined with digital awareness and self-management support through an innovative app called Afya Pap, this integrated approach aims to increase symptom recognition and treatment adherence.
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