Africa experiencing a health-tech startup boom is no longer news. Digital transformation is inevitable! and I am glad a lot of vibrant minds like chefaa are taking the bold steps in Africa.
Interestingly, the number of startups active in the health-tech space on the continent has grown by 56.5% over the last three years. Also, it has hit an all-time high at 180 active companies. This has been a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
As they say, problems present opportunities. Africa’s innovation landscape was largely led by the financial technology sector. Then, the investors seeking to make profits saw the health tech sector as fragile and unattractive — this perception changed overnight. Now, we see investors willing to back health tech startups, seeing the opportunity in digital medicine and the Africa market.
Chefaa is one of the brilliant innovations leading the African market…
Meet Dr. Rasha Rady & Dooa Aref
Chefaa is a smart medical platform, founded by Doaa Aref and Dr Rasha Rady in 2017. It connects patients and pharmacies, enabling chronic patients to schedule, order, and refill their recurring prescriptions. As well as other non-pharmaceutical products from pharmacies, through its web or mobile apps.
How it started — It’s quite an emotional story, but Doaa Aref found courage in the face of adversity. She was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, how frustrating could it be! Tracking down and ordering her medication was so difficult — let alone get it on time for scheduled doses. This made her team up with Dr Rasha Rady to help tens of thousands of chronic patients across Egypt properly manage their treatment by enabling them to easily order their medicines on a regular basis.
A step further…
The meaning of ‘Chefaa’
An Arabic word that literally means ‘healing’. The idea behind Chefaa is to address the growing prevalence of NCDs, make it easier for patients to access medication and stem the loss in productivity — all using data-driven solutions and AI. As well as, merging e-commerce with the pharmaceutical industry and leading the digital transformation of the pharmaceutical industry.
Chefaa’s app is free and allows patients to scan their prescriptions. Then, submit the request to the nearest pharmacy using GPS. The pharmacy gets the notification of the order, if it has the required medication, it accepts and delivers the order. If not, the app automatically forwards the order to the next pharmacy until the medication is traced and delivered, cutting downtime and effort for patients. It’s all delivered hassle-free within 30 minutes or less. They claim to have fulfilled hundreds of thousands of orders to date.
Since its operations began in April 2018 until September 2019, Chefaa has recorded 152,000 orders and earned $2m in sales. Also, in the year to October, the company tallied more than 150,000 orders with sales reaching more than $2.25m. Chefaa’s orders have risen almost 300% since the onset of the pandemic.
Also, the start-up runs a corporate social responsibility initiative that enables chronic patients on low incomes, to gain access to medication.
Four ways Chefaa can be of help to you!
- Delivery of medicine from the nearest pharmacy easily and accurately to you
- The possibility of reminding you of medication appointments through text messages on the dates you specify
3. The possibility of contacting Chefaa to request assistance, as well as in the case of complaints and suggestions
4. The possibility of monthly delivery of medicines away from the problems of lack of medicines.
The healthcare market in the Middle East is growing rapidly, spurred by burgeoning populations and growing urbanisation. The region’s healthcare sector is forecast to grow to $243.6 billion by 2023, from $185.5bn currently, according to Fitch Solutions.
I believe Chefaa will continue to thrive and provide value to the people. Also, they are a strong force to reckon with.
