PharmaRun, A Nigerian Startup, Revolutionizes Telemedicine
Access to healthcare in Africa is still a challenge that requires innovative solutions. Only 615 million people have access to healthcare services out of 1.216 billion people, which equals 48%, as the African Agenda 2021 report stated, especially in Sub-Saharan countries. Many different reasons cause the lack of access to healthcare services.
Causes of lack of healthcare services
• Lack of insurance and Affordability
• Lack of transportation to the hospital and pharmacy
• Lack of quality healthcare
Lack of insurance and Affordability
Lack of insurance in Africa led to people not accessing healthcare services because many Africans cannot afford healthcare services. In developing countries, 2.9 die due to a lack of healthcare services, as stated by Lancet global health. In Nigeria, 11.188% is the mortality rate yearly. One of the leading causes of this death is neonatal disorder, anemia, malaria, and diarrhea. These diseases are curable, but Nigeria’s lack of access to healthcare and affordability makes it hard. It is estimated that 15.1% of Nigerians spend a lot of money on healthcare.
Lack of transportation to the hospital and pharmacy
67% of the world’s population needs help to get to the hospital and pharmacy. This comes with a lack of transportation, which leads to death. In Nigeria, 48.5% of the population lives in rural areas, as stated by the world bank. Rural areas in Nigeria are characterized by poor road infrastructure and healthcare facilities.
Lack of quality healthcare
The world loses 6 million people due to poor quality healthcare in developing and low-income countries. In Nigeria, 67 out of 10000 people die due to low-quality healthcare; this includes medication errors, inappropriate or unnecessary treatment, and inadequate or unsafe clinical facilities. A startup in Nigeria has dedicated its mission to giving accessible medication.
Phamarun as rocket health revolutionizes telemedicine.
Phamarum is an app that facilitates medical services like testing and virtual assistance, and you can order medication via the app within 120 minutes.
- Getting tested
The get-tested feature allows you to schedule the appointment on the app; this will reduce the time patients spend at the hospital or going to the pharmacy or clinics that do not provide those services. It will also ensure quality healthcare services.
- Virtual medical consultancy
The consultancy feature allows you to ask questions about the medication plan, get a consultancy, and discuss general issues like the quantity of medication you should take or recommendations you can use. In this section, you send a text explaining your problem, and they give suggestions on things you can do in an emergency.
- Medication delivery
One of the big issues in Nigeria is transportation and the distance between hospitals and pharmacies, especially in rural areas Phamarun will be facilitating Nigerian citizens to access medication on time.
What role is Phamarun playing in healthcare in Nigeria?
Phamarun plays a big role in Nigerian healthcare services, reducing low-quality healthcare service, transport, and consultancy problems. When you think about it, diseases like neonatal disorder, anemia, malaria, and diarrhea should not cause death in Nigeria.
Phamarun plays a big role in reducing the mortality rate. With neonatal disorders, they are offering consultancy services. You can talk to the pharmacist and get advice on things you can do to avoid neonatal disorders, such as nutritional food and medication you can use. With malaria, Phamarun offers testing features; you can also book a pharmacy near you to get tested.
This will reduce the transportation problem because having a specific time slot will be easy. They also offer medication delivery when you need help finding a nearby pharmacy. They deliver medication in less than 120 min. With Diarrhea, Phamarun offers consultancy and medication delivery; this means that they will advise you on things you can do to reduce diarrhea, like making oral rehydration serum, encouraging you to stay clean, or something you can eat. At the same time, deliver medical supplies you may need.
Overall, Phamrun plays a big role in telemedicine in Nigeria, ensuring the Nigerian community has access to quality and affordable healthcare. This is like a rocket toward the health revolution.
