Senegal’s fast-growing and progressive capital, Dakar, is booming. Whereas it is still characterized by laidback charm and jazzy vibes, it is also pulling in foreign investors, experiencing increased infrastructure and is a breeding ground for innovative ideas and a new generation of savvy entrepreneurs.
One of these talented Senegalese entrepreneurs is Ben Diop. Together with his female counterpart Nafissatou Diouf, they decided to combine the traditional health industry with some young entrepreneurial spirit and founded SenVitale. The company operates in the field of e-health, developing solutions at the cutting edge of technology to respond to current challenges. The amount of prestigious awards, partnerships and funding they have attracted is, to say the least, rather impressive.
The company offers a universal digital health passport which can be scanned via a QR code and is connected to a technological platform. In case of emergency, the patient data (blood group, allergies, medical background, emergency contacts) can be made available to health professionals to save time and up to 40% in expenses. The health passport comes in the form of cards, stickers, jewelries and pendants. “One QR code scanned is a life saved”.
On top of this, the health passport allows people to have personalized follow-up such as reminders for taking medications, vaccines and medical appointments. Especially for those who need to be cautious of their health this offers a great relieve.
When faced with the current pandemic, the founders created the PrevCovid19 platform in partnership with tech-startup Defarsoft. The platform provides information and awareness about the pandemic. In addition, it offers a self-assessment test, considering personal symptoms and medical history, and guides people through steps to follow in dealing with Covid-19, to avoid overloading the national health services. It works based on an algorithm and data from the Senegalese Ministry of Health and collaborates with the World Health Organization. Within two months, the platform reached 100.000 users (wow). The data collected on the platform also makes it possible to predict the future potential foci of the epidemic.
“We looked at our resources and decided we had to play our part in this pandemic. The platform connects citizens with health institutes, startups with governments. That is exactly how we should approach this crisis: together.”
We salute you team SenVitale, what an energy you have in getting things done!
