PharmAccess is an international development organization dedicated to improving access to affordable and quality healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa through digital technology and data. We have offices in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania and The Netherlands, employing 220 full-time staff, with 70% based in our African offices.
Most health systems in sub-Saharan Africa suffer from limited investments and low public trust. Few people are insured, and high out-of-pocket costs deter healthcare utilization. Health facilities struggle to improve services due to insufficient income, and banks are unwilling to invest as they perceive the sector as risky. Poor quality care dissuades patients from joining insurance schemes. PharmAccess works to reverse this vicious cycle, by leveraging public-private partnerships and capitalizing on digital technology and data, to improve how care is delivered and financed. In doing so, we build trust and transparency in health systems for patients, providers and payers.
PharmAccess takes a health system level approach and leverages digital technology and data to advance inclusive healthcare in various ways. We support governments in enhancing social health insurance, with 24 million people currently enrolled in our support health insurance programs. To ensure quality of healthcare services, our internationally accredited SafeCare program supports 9000 public-private healthcare facilities to improve their service quality. And, through our Medical Credit Fund (MCF) – the first impact fund for health SMEs in Africa – we provide loans and business support. To date, MCF has disbursed EUR 195 million in (digital) loans to 2,300 African healthcare facilities, with a repayment rate of 96% – proving that the sector is bankable.
By leveraging digital technology and data analytics, PharmAccess is now also implementing innovative value-based healthcare models – with use cases for maternal care and NCD care, among others. Our digital tools empower patients to control their own health journeys and help reach those previously excluded from the system. These innovations enhance transparency and efficiency, while real-time data fosters informed decision-making across the healthcare ecosystem and provides more personalized patient-centric services. One example is our digital health platform ‘M-TIBA’ in Kenya that connects patients, healthcare providers and payers (e.g., health insurers, government, donors), allowing them to easily exchange money and data – with 4.5 million people connected.
PharmAccess looks forward to building new partnerships, exchanging insights and working with the ECHAlliance community to further unlock the potential of digital technology and data to transform global healthcare. Through the Alliance, we hope to forge new partnerships with diverse players to scale our impact, including through project implementation, investments and joint advocacy efforts. Among others, we are particularly interested in collaborating with impact investors, tech and data companies or pharmaceutical companies that are eager to invest in and test data-driven and patient-centric care models in Africa.
Through the Alliance we look forward to helping to showcase some of the innovative digital health work taking place on the African continent and building the new partnerships needed to break down silos to make healthcare more inclusive, patient-centric and sustainable.
