Part 1: Technology and the future of healthcare
“Improving healthcare especially in Africa is a subject that I am very passionate about.”
Providing healthcare and health services especially in rural communities around the world has its unique challenges. Haven grew up in Africa, I can easily relate to this experience. In many areas in rural Nigeria, the closest doctor can be more than a five-hour drive. Also, it can be the case that many clinics have no qualified healthcare practitioners. Even when they do, they could be more than 100 miles away from the patients.
Hence, in discussing solutions on how to bring affordable healthcare to people in such situations, I believe that technology will be playing an ever important role. And both tech and health companies can benefit immensely if they can tap into the vast potential that advancements in technology are offering to healthcare.
For instance, artificial intelligence is being used to redesign healthcare. We are seeing how AI algorithms are helping scientist with the mining of medical records and create drugs much faster. One example is Atomwise, a US-based start-up founded in 2012 that is using supercomputers to root out therapies from a database of molecular structures. Part of their effort has been geared towards developing technology to help develop safer, more effective agricultural pesticides.
I honestly believe that the future of medicine and healthcare is connected to the empowerment of patients as well as individuals taking care of their health through technologies. And any healthcare company that can provide patients with the opportunities and instrument they need to take charge of their health will undoubtedly be at the forefront of the healthcare revolution - especially in Africa.