Note from the CEO
Happy New Year! I am delighted to be sharing this first newsletter from HealthX Africa with you, and want to thank you for your interest in us. We hope this quarterly newsletter will be full of interesting updates, and valuable health tips that keep you and your loved ones feeling safe and well.
We started HealthX Africa with the vision of A Doctor for Everyone. For too long now, we have heard that health is a right for all of us, yet the way our health services are structured and delivered makes that right expensive and inconvenient for some, and unattainable for many.
HealthX Africa makes high quality primary health care accessible, affordable, convenient, and equal by leveraging the power of digital technology to reach every user with quality Primary Health Care services wherever they are, whenever they want, and as often as they need. Truly, you can call us at any time, day or night, from anywhere in Kenya, and our clinical team will be available and excited to serve you. (What is primary care, you ask? Read on to learn about it from our very own Dr Isabell.)
Our trusted, qualified, and licensed primary health care doctors and wellness advisors are available to every HealthX user, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year to meet your health and wellness needs and aspirations. (Learn more about them below.)
There are a few things we are doing at HealthX Africa that are different from how this has been done before, and I want to share them with you as I feel they are the central to our success.
- We believe in taking a whole-of-person approach, looking beyond your immediate illness or care-needs so as to better support your long-term wellbeing. You should therefore expect a full and thorough medical history when you first call us, for the whole of our team to identify and offer opportunities for preventive, promotive, and wellness support; as well as for curative services.
- Our wonderful, committed medical doctors work full time at HealthX and were specifically chosen because they are committed to improving access to services, and are excited about trying to deliver high quality services in a new way.
- We are in the process of thoughtfully and strategically partnering with a focus on quality – we want you to have the choice of where you receive your pharmacy, laboratory, or referral services, and we want to be able to recommend only those players who deliver the highest quality if you ask us for our recommendations. (More about that in the next Newsletter!)
It has been an exciting and hectic time for us all as we hit the ground running in 2021, and we are all excited to see how far we can get towards our vision of A Doctor for Every Kenyan in 2022. (You can even watch our launch in the links shared below.) We are excited to start this year with our #DaktariMkononi (your doctor in the palm of your hand) campaign, as we promise to be available in every HealthX user's hand when they need us!
Thank you for wanting to learn more about us, for signing up for our services, and for supporting HealthX Africa. Want to learn more? Check out our website www.healthxafrica.com, follow us on social media,
https://twitter.com/Health_X_Africa
https://www.instagram.com/healthxafrica
https://www.linkedin.com/company/73991520
https://web.facebook.com/Health_X_Africa
or, of course, call us anytime, 24/7 toll-free on 0800720795.
At HealthX Africa, we are here to serve you.
Wishing you a happy and healthy year ahead,
Qaizer Manji
CEO, HealthX Africa
Meet our Clinical Team
Dr. Shalmali Radha Karnad - Chief Medical Officer (CMO)
Dr. Karnad is a licensed and experienced physician with 15 years of clinical and managerial experience in the UK and Kenya. As CMO, she provides clinical oversight and governance to a team of clinicians and care coordinators ensuring high quality service delivery for preventative, promotive and curative services.
Dr. Isabell Macodoul - Family Physician
Dr. Macodoul is a family medicine specialist with 14 years of experience. Her areas of interest include diabetes management, preventative medicine and community outreach. Across her extensive clinical practice, she focuses on quality and holistic healthcare to all patients, across all age groups.
Dr. Martin Makau - Medical Doctor
Dr. Makau is a qualified and experienced general practice physician with 10 years of experience in the healthcare sector across medical practice and healthcare management in the private and public sector.
He is passionate about making high quality healthcare accessible for all.
Dr. Benson Muchiri Karimi - Medical Doctor
Dr. Karimi is a licensed medical doctor with 9 years of experience across both the private and public sector. Throughout his clinical practice he prides himself on giving definitive care ensuring every patient has comprehensive care.
Dr. Carol Yvonne Tanaguza - Medical Doctor
Dr. Yvonne is a licensed and experienced general practitioner with 7 years of experience and expansive knowledge in primary healthcare. She believes in compassion, empathy and seamless patient follow-up practices, to ensure a favourable doctor-patient relationship geared towards patient satisfaction.
Dr. Winfred Kavenge Kioko - Medical Doctor
Dr. Kioko is a highly qualified medical doctor with 4 years of experience. Throughout her clinical practice, she has gained valuable experience in provision of quality, accessible and affordable primary healthcare, including diagnosis and treatment of common ailments as well as chronic disease management.
Anne Waseke Kaloki - Wellness Advisor/ Clinical and Community Nutritionist
Anne Kaloki is an enthusiastic, passionate, empathetic clinical and
community nutritionist. She commits to helping individuals, families
and communities to learn, thrive and achieve their wellness and nutrition goals through simple, quality, efficient and achievable
nutrition and wellness care.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAP4Hkpik78&t=810s
On Wednesday, November 17th 2021, we hosted our official launch with a full day of excitement, celebration, and commitment.
The day started off with a stimulating discussion on the role of telemedicine in delivering care as a part of the Government of Kenya's Universal Health Care agenda, moderated by the very engaging Caroline Mutoko. Watch the discussion featuring our very own Chief Medical Officer Dr. Radha Karnad and experts in the field including Mr. Onesmus Kamau (Director, Health Informatics and Digital Medicine Department, Ministry of Health Kenya), Eng. Daniel Obam (Communications Secretary, National Communications Secretariat, Ministry of ICT, Kenya), Dr Mohamed Farghaly (Dubai Health Authority), and Dr Raouf Khalil (Founder and CEO of TruDoc).
From the press coverage, we were honoured to see the excitement and interest generated from our launch. Here is a selection of the press coverage we got on the day and after: https://www.healthxafrica.com/news
Caroline also took the time out to chat individually with our CMO Dr Radha Karnad and with one of our senior doctors, Dr Martin Makau, about the directions they see health going and the innovations in care that will get us to A Doctor for Every Kenyan.
We closed the day with some stirring words to inspire us all from HealthX Africa’s Dr Yvonne Tanaguza and Dr Martin Makau, and a toast to set us on our way.
Celebrating done, we have focused every day on how we can best serve our patients, constantly improve our quality, and innovate to solve the problems that hinder Kenyans accessing healthcare where they are and when they need it.
Watch Caroline with Dr Radha
Watch Caroline with Dr Martin
What is this thing called Primary Health Care?
Primary health care is the first contact a person has with the health system when they are unwell. It caters for 80-90% of one’s physical, mental and social needs throughout one's lifetime.
At HealthX, we leverage technology to increasing access to non-emergency Primary Health Care and medical information, including through telemedicine. Today, we are here to address YOUR questions about Primary Health Care.
What Should I Expect from my Primary Care Provider?
Primary Health Care includes promotion of healthy behaviour, prevention of diseases, care for illnesses , counseling and patient education. Its about caring for the whole person rather than focusing only on a disease or condition you may have.
With high quality Primary Health Care, you should have a long-term relationship with your primary care provider, so that they can support you to be healthy, prevent illness, and receive continuous care with timely referrals to specialists when needed.
You and your family should feel empowered and supported to make the best decisions for your own health. “How?” You may ask? Your doctor should work with you to create an action health plan that is tailored to your health needs and medical history.
What are the Different Components of Primary Health Care?
Primary Health Care is generally considered to include:
- Health education
- Nutrition
- Safe drinking water and sanitation
- Maternal and child health
- Family planning
- Immunisation
- Appropriate treatment of common diseases, injuries, and accidents
- Providing essential drugs
Kenya added four more elements, which include the following:
- Dental health
- Mental health
- HIV/AIDS
- Primary eye care
According to the Kenyan Primary Health Care strategic plan, Primary Health Care is offered by teams comprising some or all of the following:
- A Family Physician; or where that is not possible, a specialist such as the Physician or
- Pediatrician
- Medical Officers
- Clinical Officers
- Pharmaceutical Officers/ Technicians
- Nursing Officers/ Community Health Nurses
- Public Health Officers/ Technicians
- Nutritionists/ Dieticians
- Health Promotion Officers
- Health Records and Information Officers
- Laboratory and Imaging Specialists
- Kenya-Primary-Healthcare-Strategic-Framework-Signed.pdf
Benefits of Primary Health Care
- Both the UK and the Netherlands have strong primary health care systems. In both countries, Primary Health Care has been found to reduce the number of unnecessary hospital admissions, tests, and investigations, and reduce the cost of health care.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5903888/ - Evidence from countries like Rwanda and Cuba shows that countries with strong Primary Health Care have a more efficient health delivery system, have lower deaths, disease rates and low health inequalities, again with lower health cost.
https://www.health.go.ke/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Kenya-Primary-Healthcare-Strategic-Framework13-signed.pdf - Preventive interventions that are a key part of Primary Health Care prevent or delay the development of diseases, or complications from diseases. For example, actions such as improving diets and exercising regularly, guided by primary care providers, have been shown to reduce the risk of obesity
https://www.news-medical.net/health/ Benefits-of-Primary-Health-Care.aspx - Primary Health Care screenings can detect early changes that
could be indicative of specific diseases, and guide early intervention to prevent or manage those conditions. For
example, pap smears done at the recommended time have
been shown to reduce the incidences of cervical cancer by 105,000 to 400, 000 case in the US in the last 30 years compared to the pre-screening era.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/ - Timely implementation of Primary Health Care can reduce the need for unwarranted specialist care. When preventive measures are encouraged by primary health practitioners or interventions are made early, referral to a specialist for disease-specific care can be done only when necessary.
What do I do with this information?
At HealthX Africa, we have a Primary Health Care team of Family Practitioners and General Practitioners, as well as nutrition and mental health specialists, who cater for your physical, mental and social well-being. We offer you unlimited and affordable access to physicians who will walk you through your health needs at all stages of your life and develop an action health plan specific to your needs, as well as wellness advisors and psychologists to cater for your nutritional, social, mental and other lifestyle needs.
We believe you should have the power to make the best health and wellness decisions for yourself and your family, not driven by cost or fear, but by what you need. Be it preventive, promotive, curative, or rehabilitative primary health care, we strive to be your constant and trusted partner on your health and wellness journey, and to support you in achieving your dreams and aspirations for yourself and your family.
If you have any questions or need any more information about primary health care or any health care issues, contact us anytime on our tollfree number 0800 720 795 or through our app. Not got our app yet? Download it for free today!
