Mobile technology offers the poor access to top healthcare

Barbers, food vendors, carpenters and mechanics at the Kahawa West Market in Nairobi save a minimum of Sh40 each daily on their mobile phones for healthcare insurance.

They can then have access to both in-patient and out-patient care through the Afya Poa health insurance. Their families are also covered.

Not too far from the market is the Jacaranda Health Centre that offers low-cost maternal care services to low-income earners.

The centre uses the mobile phone to send health information to mothers. Patients pay for healthcare services using Safaricom’s Lipa na M-Pesa.

According to the head of curative and rehabilitation services in the health ministry, Dr Izaq Odongo the use of the mobile phone will improve health service delivery.”

The mobile phone will also be used in tele-medicine, the health information system, e-learning and information for the citizens.

Use of the mobile phone has been mooted as a viable way of mobilising funds for healthcare, especially for low-income earners.

This is so because more than half of Kenya’s population earns less than Sh250 per day but has access to a mobile phone.

According to a 2016 study by the think tank Afrobarometer, 98 per cent of Kenyans have access to mobile phone services.

The Central Bank of Kenya said as of December 2015, the country had 31.6 million mobile money transfer customers. It further said nearly Sh2.8 trillion was transacted through mobile money platforms within the year.

According to health consultant Josea Rono, mobile money platforms can be used to facilitate “faster access to care as well as reducing the costs of treatment while offering safe and convenient options for payment”.

This is supported by a report Advancing Bottom of the Pyramid Access to Healthcare: A Case Study on Mobile Money Platforms, launched by the Private Sector Innovation Programme for Health on Tuesday.

The report says mobile money platforms have been used to mobilise funds from friends and relatives for healthcare during emergencies.

It further says there is an opportunity for companies to use mobile technology to ensure low-income Kenyans are provided with healthcare.

United Nations Development Programme Country Director for Kenya Maria-Threase Keating said access to healthcare services remains a challenge, especially for those at the lower end of the economic scale.

“We have seen the emergence of a wide spectrum of services for those at the bottom of the economic pyramid. The services range from accessible health insurance to primary healthcare, facilitated by technology and especially mobile platforms.”