Opportunity Area
How might we improve access to maternal health pharmaceuticals and supplies for the youth in Uganda?
Sub Area:
Improve information flow between distribution actors, health facilities and the end-user (youth) to drive demand for services;
What is the title of your idea?
DrugDash
Describe your idea in one sentence.
It’s an information system to help health centers and NMS manage EMHS stock levels through dashboards that support quick decision making.
Where are you located?
International Health Sciences University (IHSU)
Are you incorporated?
Yes
How did you come up with the idea? Explain briefly how you identified the need or opportunity?
Significant investments have been made at the national level with regards to drug distribution in Uganda. The convergence of all national drug and health supplies to the National Medical Stores is one such initiatives. However there has not been similar initiatives and investment at the District Level and the units below. Informed by the variance in stocks at the District level units our idea seeks to support the decision making process in a timely manner. The agility of the system will enable timely interventions in stocks-out situations as well as being able to forecast demand in a structured approach
What problem does your idea solve in the market?
DrugDash is responding to challenge of intra-district stock management within the health units. It is a common phenomena to have one facility out of stock and one close to it out of stock and there is no visibility of the same in real time. Ability to visualize stock data in real-time will facilitate prompt decision making like the movement of drugs from one health to another in the same district. The current ‘push’ approach being used by NMS assumed a number of variables that have since changed and have not been updated. This will have significant impact on availability of of EMHS countrywide
Who are the beneficiaries of your solution and how will they benefit?
Overall beneficiaries are members of the communities where the Health Centers are established and specifically the expectant mothers who are significantly impacted by shortage of drugs. The District Health team and NMS would be the other beneficiaries.
Our System will enhance proper planning in terms of supply and demand of EMHS by the district health administration.
This will enhance decision making at the district and national levels by providing requisite analytics of of usage and demand.
Why are you convinced your idea will solve the challenge or need?
We have severally seen Health Centers reporting stock out and yet NMS declares availability of drugs. This clearly demonstrates a gap in information flow which impacts on the lives of many. Providing prompt information to the decision makers will enhance response to drug stockouts as well as provide appropriate data for planning.Several similar initiatives have been implemented in neighboring countries including Ethiopia, Malawi and Rwanda and they have brought tremendous impacts.
What other initiatives like yours exist out there? How will you differentiate yourself?
There have several initiatives to support drug distribution management at district level however these have been stand-alone. Currently in the market there is no system that provides support at the district level. DrugDash takes cognizance of the other systems that are currently in use by NMS as well as the recent adoption of OpenMRS as a standard for patient records. DrugDash will seek to integrate with these two systems in order to provide a close to true picture of the EMHS demand at different levels.
What have you done up-to date to test your idea with potential users? What learnings do you have to share?
Several consultations have been undertaken to understand and appreciate the intensity of the challenge.
National Medical Stores; to understand the current drug distribution system and the level of interaction with the different stakeholders.International Medical Clinics; a subsidiary of International Medical Group that runs 11 clinics with pharmacies. Even as private facilities they are faced with the same challenges and currently have no system to visualize drug usage at clinic level.
Prof. John Charles Okiria; a consultant Health Supply Chain Specialist who is involved in auditing drug distribution systems.
Kisugu Health Centre; a facility within Kampala, close to Kiswa Health Centre however lacks a system that enables her to access drugs from Kiswa HC. We reached out to pilot DrugDash too.
Please tell us about each founder and their roles on the team. How do you know your founders and how long have you worked together?
We are a team of 5 that have worked together since August 2016.
Joanitah is passionate about technology with a specific interest in finding solutions for the health sector.
Samson is a computer programmer who loves to explore new ventures and concepts that have the potential to transform lives in my community.
Ivan is a self driven graduate of IT from MUK in love with ICTs who loves to read and crunch information and is in charge of research for the project.
Solomon is a graduate in the field of information technology with a passion for software engineering and data analytics.
Alban is a graduate in computer engineering, with a passion in data and voice networks who also strives to mentor the next generation of engineers.
Please tell us about other team members that are not cofounders.
Project Mentors
Dr. Charles Okiria is a health systems management consultant with over 18 years experience in the health and is passionate about quality and sustainability of the pharmaceutical public sector.Michael Niyitegeka is an expert in Leadership Development and Business Technology Strategy
Please describe each founder’s previous experience starting out a business or working in the area of sexual reproductive health? Or You can share anything impressive that each founder brings to the team.
Joanitah is a founding partner of a fellowship of creatives called Kafunda Kreative which seeks to build the capacity of young creatives through creating collaborative spaces, opportunities and skilling to push boundaries in their different trades.
Samson is founder and CTO of TriumWorks, a software development consultancy firm that aims at improving business process using technology as an enabler and will be the lead technical person on the team.
Alban is a lingua franca with ability to negotiate freely in major local languages and international languages including french.
Solomon works with C&A pharmacy so he brings on a wealth of knowledge about drugs management systems.
Ivan loves crunching numbes.
Where is your team located? Please indicate the city or town.
International health sciences university, Kampala.
Which members of your team will attend the program full-time?
Solomon
Ivan
Alban
Samson
Joan
Please share a link to a 3 minute online video that best describes your idea and your team
N/A
Supporting Documents
View Document
How old are you?
25
Gender
Male
