Irish digital loans startup Umba—which received seed capital from ACT Venture Capital Frontline Ventures and Bloom Equity—has partnered with Kenya’s MYDAWA to fund purchase of drugs on credit.The partnership solves a persistent problem where patien…...
Irish digital loans startup Umba—which received seed capital from ACT Venture Capital Frontline Ventures and Bloom Equity—has partnered with Kenya’s MYDAWA to fund purchase of drugs on credit.
The partnership solves a persistent problem where patients defer purchase of drugs for lack of money by directly paying for drugs’ It enables users to buy full doses and pay when they receive salaries or wages.
Umba founder Barry O’ Mahony said small loans of up to Sh1,600 will be offered on the platform to customers whose lack of formal credit history denies them access to loans in traditional banks.
“Our mission is to build an intelligent financing platform for the connected world through machine- learning that helps us understand our customers’ needs,” he said.
MYDAWA managing director Tony Wood said enabling patients to access a full dose to treat an infection solves a much bigger problem. He said when patients buy half doses of antibiotics for lack of money, they end up abandoning treatment and developing resistance t the medicine.
“This often leads to the symptoms coming back, this time worse and often requiring a stronger dose of medication, for a longer duration. Actions that were taken for lack of money, in the end increases the cost to the patient in addition to the health impact,” he said.
Through the partnership, Umba will assess a patient’s credit score and provide microfinance options to those patients who cannot afford medication but want to purchase via the MYDAWA platform.
“At the core of MYDAWA is the commitment to achieve better health outcomes for all, which is our key motivator to constantly innovate ways that deliver a value-based and patient-centric care to consumers,” said Mr Wood.
MYDAWA is Kenya’s first licensed e-retailing pharmacy that enables consumers to purchase medicines, health and wellness products.
Original Source: Business Daily
