The influencer improving Nigerian healthcare access via WhatsApp
When you think of trusted health information, you probably don’t think of Meta products like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. After all, Meta’s social media sites have been at the forefront of medical misinformation backlashes, especially since 2020.
But now, this Nigerian health influencer might just change your mind about what these platforms can do for health awareness.
The story: Chinonso Egemba’s healthtech startup, AwaDoc, is bringing health to more Nigerians’ hands via WhatsApp.
- AwaDoc works as an AI chatbot in WhatsApp, helping users determine what to do next based on symptoms they report.
- Egemba has built a large online following as Aproko Doctor. On his social media, he shares bite-sized, shareable health information in an entertaining manner.
- His videos feature fictional characters Emeka and Nkechi on a variety of health-related situations, teaching his largely Nigerian audience how to stay healthy and advocate for themselves.
- AwaDoc is a natural next step in making easily digestible health information available to people where they already spend time.
Bridging the access gap: The healthtech is trying to address the lack of healthcare access in many African countries, including Nigeria.
- This problem is compounded by the trend of many Nigerian medical professionals continuing to leave the country due to low wages and other economic factors, further exacerbating an already strained healthcare workforce.
Not telemedicine: However, while others addressing this need have offered telemedicine solutions via payers and employers, Egemba knew from his medical work that less than five percent of Nigerians have health insurance, so telemedicine would not actually bridge this gap.
- AwaDoc works with—rather than against—the tendency of Nigerian patients, as Egemba has observed himself, to self-diagnose and self-medicate rather than visit a formal clinic.
- Instead of trying and failing to get patients to formal medical care from the jump, AwaDoc provides first aid information and guidance before connecting them to a provider if needed.
- It’s an important first step to connecting more Nigerians—and Africans overall—to the health information they deserve.