AstraZeneca UK Limited (AstraZeneca) and Health Strat LTD have entered into a partnership to increase the capacity of healthcare workers in Kenya.
The partnership which was concluded on 27th June 2022, is meant to enable the health workers to diagnose, treat manage and provide a referral for common cancers through updating, upgrading, and utilization of the existing Virtual Academy.
Since AstraZeneca is committed to harnessing digital innovation to drive inclusion and equity across the healthcare ecosystem, the partnership will provide an opportunity to further build upon the flagship digital programs pioneered globally.
One such program is the Virtual Academy which is a versatile e-learning platform that permits interactive learning (synchronous) for the different cadres of Health Care Providers across Kenya.
Such programs have the potential to help students become entrepreneurs who generate solutions from AI Breast Cancer Screening to managing diabetes patients.
Through this partnership, HEALTH STRAT and AstraZeneca aims to offer new opportunities for health tech entrepreneurs to connect and collaborate with a truly global network, bolstering healthcare innovation and creativity on the African continent.
Part of the agreement also aims to record the terms by which AstraZeneca is providing funding to HEALTH STRAT.
The partnership couldn’t have come at a perfect time when cancer still exists as a threat and is the third leading cause of death in Kenya after infectious and cardiovascular diseases.
The disease accounts for about seven percent of annual deaths in Kenya and has become the fastest route to poverty due to the expenses involved.
Every year, about 5,236 Kenyan women are diagnosed with cervical cancer and about 60 percent of them (3,211) die, according to the World Health Organization’s latest data. The number could be more, given that many cases go unreported.
Since innovation is central to the health system, the programs used in the partnership will assess the status of health systems to provide insight into bottlenecks that prevent effective and efficient service delivery.
The assessments are then used to inform the development of integrated improvement and monitoring plans anchored on quality management and targeted technical assistance.