Fielda leading African health technology company, has launched a route-to-market service that will introduce emerging therapies to address the urgent need of maternal mortality, newborn and child health, along with nutrition.
Details
The initiative will leverage Field’s proprietary technology, distribution and financing services, which currently power a network of over 40,000 private and public healthcare providers in rural and urban areas across Kenya and Nigeria.
The initiative starts with one originally $11 million in support of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundationin recognition of Field’s commitment to introducing emerging therapies and supply chain transformation to combat Africa’s most pressing health priorities.
About the Company
Since its inception in 2015, Field’s enhanced infrastructure has facilitated more than 800 million health interventions in more than 60 therapeutic areas, including family planning, HIV and tuberculosis. Starting from Kenya and Nigeria, with room for expansion in other regions.
Field will leverage its unique capabilities within complex distribution channels to create a rapid path to market for emerging therapies and technologies. This will include an extensive digitization review for private health care providers, hospitals and health care agencies at the state and federal level, with funding options to strengthen operations and purchasing capabilities.
In addition, healthcare providers will benefit from last-mile delivery to improve day-to-day healthcare services and the installation of pharmaceutical-grade refrigerators. As a whole, the service will be strengthened by building a coalition that includes governments, manufacturers and other key stakeholders for one of the continent’s most ambitious maternal health programs to date.
The Big Picture
Maternal mortality is one of the continent’s most pressing healthcare challenges. The probability of a woman dying in childbirth in Africa is 45 times higher than in Europe. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), Africa accounts for 69% of global maternal deathswith Nigeria representing alone 29% of all maternal deaths worldwide in 2020.
The Field Service will provide mothers-to-be in Africa with access to emerging therapies, such as thermostable carbetosin and calibrated drapes, that detect and treat postpartum hemorrhage, the leading cause of maternal mortality in Africa. The platform will accelerate these new interventions, support established therapies and address associated complications such as pre-eclampsia.
What They Say
The consequences of inadequate or non-existent maternal health services will affect the most vulnerable segments of Africa’s population.
Speaking of initiative, Michael Moreland, CEO & Founder of Fieldsays, “This is public health powered by technology, and today’s news recognizes the products and services Field has built over the past eight years, scaled and integrated into large-scale public health programs. This is what we believe health tech companies should do. joining influential innovative coalitions between private and public actors“.
“Digitally powering, networking and financing health systems at scale will have an overwhelmingly positive impact on access to quality care. With funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, we are going to rapidly improve maternal and child survival in every setting.”
A number of global pharmaceutical and healthcare companies have pulled out of the continent in the past 18 months. Moreland adds, “We have seen genuine, significant gains in health care delivery outcomes, yet in this current tough economic climate, without coordinated systems and processes, progress will slow or reverse. Together with our funders, it is our role to ensure that this does not happen because the problems facing the healthcare space will not solve themselves. This is where Field and its funders come in, and we are excited to work on this technology-enabled infrastructure plan for public health services.”
Digging deeper
In addition to this new initiative, Field continues to grow and scale its technology solutions across the continent. In Field Supplyhas built the largest pharmaceutical supply chain platform in Africa.
Its distribution service Lifetime distributes over 3,000 quality products in more than 50 therapeutic areas, reaching over 2,500 pharmacies and hospitals in 24 cities in Nigeria and Kenya, including government facilities, major hospital systems, retail chains, insurance companies and family-run pharmacies. The platform also provides trade finance solutions for priority treatments and equipment that address the working capital constraints that often prevent investment in new medical interventions.
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