Majority of South Africans experience significant hardship in accessing healthcare and carry a disproportionate disease burden as a result.
Unu Health intends to disrupt this status quo
South Africa’s healthcare remains a two-tiered space, where access to private healthcare, which accounts for 50% of our total expenditure on health, and which supports 17% of our population, remains linked to the ability to pay for private medical scheme membership. Despite remarkable innovation and progress globally in the health tech domain, which seeks to remove friction and improve access, South Africa’s population with access to private healthcare has moved from 9.6% in 1974 (2.4m members/ population of 25m) to 17% in 2021 (9m member/ population of 59.3m). Aiming to urgently step into the gap, Unu Health is a technology platform that delivers access to affordable, quality primary healthcare. The platform gives users access to primary healthcare providers including nurses, doctors, and pharmacy networks via a zero-rated mobile app, and seeks to empower users to own their wellbeing, key to addressing non-communicable diseases, which by 2030 will be the number one driver of mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa.
As well as the provision of access to affordable healthcare plans, Unu Health enables users to take control of their own health with access to their health records and medical history – essentially empowering them to manage all their primary healthcare needs in one place.
Unu Health is seed-funded by the Standard Bank Group, which is also the first provider to offer packaged healthcare solutions on the platform. Unu Health seeks to galvanise people by giving them access to information and medical expertise, to take control of their own health and wellbeing, helping them lead healthier, happier lives. Tania Joffe, CEO and Principal of Unu Health, says the platform’s vision is to transform the delivery of quality primary healthcare in Africa, making it accessible, affordable and dignified for all. “We are developing a hyperconnected patient centred ecosystem linking healthcare users, healthtech resources as well as traditional in-person health resources, via an inclusive platform that is intuitive and easy to use from mobile phones.”
Joffe says that orchestrating a digital-first, data-enabled healthcare platform that delivers quality inclusive primary care for communities in developing economies can help extend life expectancy “by changing how people access, pay for and experience medical care, we can have a long-term impact on lives, livelihoods and the continent’s GDP.”
“Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) have an increasingly long-term impact on the quality of life for those affected, with catastrophic consequences if undiagnosed, diagnosed late or poorly managed. Genetic, physiological, environmental, and behavioural factors underpin these diseases,” says Dr Phatho Zondi, COO and Clinical Lead at Unu Health. “The top four NCDs – cardiovascular, cancers, chronic respiratory disease and diabetes – account for 80% of annual NCD-related deaths and are mostly driven by factors like tobacco use, physical inactivity, the harmful use of alcohol, and unhealthy diets.”
By taking a patient-centric approach, Unu Health seeks to empower users to own their wellbeing journeys. Through strategic partnerships, Unu is addressing the asymmetry of information and power in the medical industry, to deliver ‘healthcare that makes you smile’.
Joffe says that Unu Health is focusing initially on the 5.5 million formally employed population that cannot afford medical aid, by partnering with employers to support access to primary healthcare for their employees.
“Unu Health integrates HR and medical data to give employers valuable insights into the wellbeing of their people to help improve employee health - with a direct impact on the bottom line via reduced absenteeism, greater productivity, and enhanced staff retention and attraction,” Joffe explains. Employee data is de-identified and aggregated, so private patient data is not disclosed.
“Owing to the friction involved in accessing primary healthcare, most South Africans initially self-medicate acute symptoms while their chronic conditions go largely undiagnosed. As a result, on any day 15% of the workforce is absent – that’s 2.25 million people who are not at work,” says Joffe. “We’re looking to change the status quo by removing the friction”.
Unu Health is transforming the delivery of quality primary healthcare in Africa with a holistic platform that makes it accessible, affordable and dignified for all.
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