Brisbane-based digital health company ResApp Health Limited (ASX:RAP) is joining forces with Kenyan company Ilara Health to make healthcare diagnostic services more accessible, affordable and accurate in Africa.
ResApp Health and Ilara Health are now planning to conduct a three-month evaluation of the ResAppDx, smartphone app for acute respiratory disease diagnosis, at five partner medical facility sites in Kenya. The evaluation is expected to start during the third quarter of this calendar year.
Over 500 million people in Africa struggle to access high quality healthcare, with many doctors across the continent having a limited ability to perform diagnostics in their clinic. According to the WHO, lower respiratory tract infections are the leading cause of death in Africa, resulting in nearly a million deaths in 2016.
Tony Keating, CEO and Managing Director of ResApp, says ResAppDx is the world’s first regulatory-approved smartphone app that provides doctors with a low-cost, convenient and accurate point-of-care diagnostic tool to aid in the diagnosis of respiratory diseases such as lower respiratory tract disease, pneumonia, asthma exacerbations and COPD exacerbations.
We are pleased to be working with a partner who has significant experience in dealing with the challenges of operating in areas which lack modern healthcare infrastructure,” Mr Keating aid.
“Ilara Health also offers innovative financing options that allow their customers to access latest developments in diagnostic technology at a low initial cost.
“We hope that by providing a low-cost diagnostic test in areas unable to be served by traditional healthcare, we can play a role in improving healthcare for all.”
Emilian Popa, CEO and Co-founder of Ilara Health, said that with respiratory symptoms the most common presentation to healthcare facilities, the company is excited by the benefits that a low-cost and accurate respiratory diagnostic test can bring to healthcare facilities in Kenya.
“ResApp’s smartphone-based technology is an ideal fit for our technology platform, which aims to lower the cost of diagnostics and make them accessible and affordable to the 500 million people in Africa who today struggle to access even basic blood tests.”