Solution Description:
Every year in African hospitals, hundreds of people die because essential medical supplies could not be found on time and in the right condition. Hospital level stock-outs of supplies such as blood, plasma, platelets, oxygen, vaccines, organs, and rare drugs lead to many deaths of Africa’s most vulnerable people. This problem of essential supplies stock-outs is so pervasive, it affects thousands of sickle cell anaemia patients, surgery patients, and accidents victims. Nigeria, home to 9% of the global population living with HIV, has the second largest HIV disease burden in the world with 3.2 million infected people. Between 5 and 15% of new HIV infections in sub-Saharan Africa can be attributed to unsafe blood transfusions. The problem is caused by inefficient logistics in collection, testing, storage, and delivery of these products.
LifeBank uses data, smart logistics and a combination of low technology like feature mobile phones and motorcycles, and high technology such as AI and blockchain, to discover and deliver essential medical products, saving lives in hospitals across Africa. LifeBank is currently working on the blood shortage problem in Nigeria by connecting hospitals to blood banks, and blood banks to donors. This is done by mobile infrastructure to create a community of voluntary blood donors, and by delivering blood in less than 45 minutes, in a WHO Blood Transfusion Safety compliant cold chain, to hospitals. LifeBank is also developing a BlockChain powered product, SmartBag, that records and preserves the integrity of information about the processes involved in blood supply.