By Prince Acquah
GNA special correspondent, Casablanca
Casablanca, May 07, GNA – Blink Pharma, a Moroccan startup offering a software solution to address gaps in epidemiological data, has been crowned winner of a digital startup challenge at the maiden GITEX Future Health Africa conference in Morocco.
The software collects data from pharmacies on drugs prescribed or delivered and analyses them to identify health signals and diseases, after which the information is mapped to provide authorities with decision-making tools.
As a result, it enables authorities to prevent epidemics in advance, plan vaccination campaigns effectively and make informed decisions based on real-time data.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency, Mr Ali Sami, CEO of the startup, indicated that the core aim of the innovation was to empower Africans to take control and make better decisions for their health.
He observed a significant lack of real-time epidemiological data in African health systems largely due to underfunding and a lack of data points and registries which hindered effective public health interventions.
However, he believed that real-time data from pharmacies was a crucial, underutilised resource for improving public health decision-making in Africa and therefore the solution would be reasonably priced to optimise resource allocation in Africa.
“We devote very little amount of money to epidemiological data, and we don’t have enough registries and data points. That is why our solution should come up at a reasonable price.
“And this reasonable price is very important, because Africa needs to optimise its resources. We don’t have that much money to spend, but when we spend the money, we better spend it wisely on good tools,” he emphasised.
Mr Sami explained that the software had been vetted and approved in Morocco and the company was now focused on scaling the solution to other countries.
Blink Pharma was primarily targeting governmental bodies and intergovernmental organisations like the World Health Organization (WHO), he noted.
“We are mainly targeting governmental bodies or extra-governmental like World Health Organization or maybe CDC Africa or other institutions that may need the data to make their decisions,” he explained.
He was awarded 10,000 dollars as his prize.
The maiden edition of the conference closed on Wednesday, with a clarion call for Africa to transition from technology consumer to creating and owning it.
The revolutionary three-day event rallied hundreds of global leaders and professionals in health care, scientists, innovators, startups, investors, policymakers, researchers, and other stakeholders to transform African’s healthcare system, leveraging Artificial Intelligence (AI) and other emerging digital technologies.
The conference was organised by the Mohammed VI Foundation for Sciences and Health (FM6SS), the Ministry of Health, and Social Protection of Morocco, and KOAUN International under the High Patronage of His Majesty King Mohammed VI, the King of Morocco.
GNA
Edited by Alice Tettey/Linda Asante Agyei
Reporter: Prince Acquah
[email protected]