AlemHealth - Integrated Pandemic Hub

The Integrated Pandemic Hub is an end-to-end patient care solution building health system resilience through an integrated network of AI-driven digital health tools. The platform increases access to essential health services with minimal physical contact. 

Aschkan Abdul-Malek, CEO and Founder of AlemHealth

Case detection and diagnostics usually happens only at the clinic or diagnostic centre itself, which is too late to limit pandemic spread.

Accessing essential quality healthcare services without facing financial hardship or stigma, is a luxury that at least half of the world’s population does not have. The COVID-19 pandemic has exasperated the weaknesses in the most ‘resilient’ health systems around the world, with many countries facing huge loss to human life and severe disruptions in essential medical service, particularly for vulnerable populations.

Therefore, the problem we are solving is how do we move case detection as close to the home of the affected as possible, to provide care at-scale, cost-effectively, with minimal stigma.

IPH simultaneously serves 3 groups; the vulnerable population, government officials looking to monitor outbreaks and coordinate response, and empowers physicians to work remotely.

In providing a remote service, the telemedicine center supports vulnerable families and communities that would otherwise be unable to seek quality primary healthcare. Whether geographically, financially or socially bound, AlemHealth’s service will reach patients that traditional health systems struggle to access. For women unable to leave the house to visit a healthcare facility, the phone-based consultation allows access to expert advice on managing their symptoms or caring for their children or elderly relatives. As primary caregivers, women must be given the most up-to-date and accurate knowledge in providing home treatment. In doing so, AH will improve the health outcomes of the vulnerable women, but also the people that care for.  

AlemHealth will collate all of the information gathered throughout the programing in an interactive live public health indicator dashboard for governments and officials to coordinate real-time evidence-based response plans.

What is more, the COVID pandemic has seen healthcare workers greatly impacted on the frontline. Remote telemedicine offers an innovative work-from-home option for clinicians using fully distributed tools and systems, enabling clinicians improved economic opportunities with safety precautions. 

The IPH solution seeks to bridge the gap between access, knowledge and quality essential healthcare services, whilst reducing the number of physical touchpoints for the patient and thus minimizing the financial burden on the patient.

Access to primary healthcare and accurate information is available free-of-charge to patients from their mobile or landline.

In turn, the solution produces data in a free-to-use dashboard for public health officials and governments.

Whilst the struggle for adequate healthcare affects over half of the world’s population, it hits women hardest. First and foremost, AlemHealth aim to provide a gender-responsive platform for access to healthcare. Deep gender inequalities exists within many of the populations we work in, with cultural limits on women's movement. This often leaves women confined to poorly ventilated homes and ultimately means women are less likely to access healthcare.

By providing access to a female doctor within the confines of a home via a mobile device, important medical assistance and information can be given to vulnerable populations in a timely manner with limited disruption to their lives.

Indeed, AlemHealth’s COVID-19 program in Afghanistan found that 51% of women in comparison to 35% of men were experiencing severe and pro-longed COVID-19 symptoms. Through the telemedicine phone bank these women were able to access the treatment advice they required.

In the initial year we hope to expand services within Afghanistan to continue to monitor the current COVID pandemic and TB cases, as well as begin expansion and adaption the model for Nigeria and Bangladesh. 

In the subsequent years we hope to adapt the platform to monitor all respiratory viruses and mitigate against ensuing pandemics.

We will scale in the new markets through localised product and training local doctors in telemedicine services.

In phase one, data collected from the integrated nodes of the platform will be compared to existing historical data around key metrics on Catastrophic Healthcare Costs in primary and diagnostic healthcare.

We will measure the cost of healthcare access  and out-of-pocket expenses amongst the patient populations, comparing traditional healthcare against our integrated approach. Data around diagnostic and treatment success will be considered on an annual basis, looking at the percentage drop-off rate from screening to diagnosis to treatment completion.

Our biggest challenge is financing the telemedicine service for the each new market. We must both hire and train doctors for the localised telemedicine service, as well as provide outreach to build awareness of the existence of the service.

While the radiology devices business is sustainable as a standalone business, the COVID-19 triage service typically needs to be financed since there is no user-fee mechanism for it. However, we believe given the amount it would save public health systems from early detection, that there would be appetite to fund the project as evidence of its success grows as well as explore user fees..

Beyond the funding which will help us to achieve the most optimal and sustainable solution to improve healthcare access, AlemHealth would like The Trinity Challenge support in communications and networking, to gain exposure to interested partners trust such as the Gates Foundation and the Global Fund.

AlemHealth would be interested in working with organisations that are like-minded in their outlook on democratising healthcare in a sustainable way for resilient health systems of the future. We are open to working with challenge members, as we believe that strong partnerships extremely important for a well-rounded approach.