Healthcare products for developing world markets need to be simple, scalable and culturally appropriate to work.
Poor health is one of the major obstacles to development in the world’s poorest countries. Entrepreneurial solutions can help, but they need to be simple, culturally sensitive and scalable to make a dent. Here are three original ideas with the potential to do just that.
Kidogo – providing childcare in Kenya’s slums
Kidogo’s low cost childcare centres provide nutritious meals and basic health interventions such as vaccinations, on top of a play-based curriculum. In addition, they provide training and materials to local baby-care centres through a micro-franchising model. This model expands Kidogo’s reach, while its fee-for-service approach means it’s not dependent on donor aid. Kidogo’s second centre opened in Kangemi, another slum in Nairobi, in January and broke even within six weeks.
“We wanted to design a model that could be financially sustainable so that when donor priorities change or early childhood is no longer the sexy thing to fund, our programmes could continue to flourish,” explains Premji.
Local ownership is vital to the acceptance and success of the childcare centres. From the outset, Premji and her co-founder were anxious that the social enterprise wasn’t seen as a “mzungu” (white person) project. Hiring Kenyan staff, involving parents in decision-making and running open days for the community have helped avoid such an eventuality.
The Aga Khan University is currently carrying out a rigorous case-control research study of Kidogo’s model, with improvements in physical health one of the study’s core outcome measures. Around 2.5 million children in east Africa’s slums have no access to early childhood care, Premji states. “Without a basic education and with significant health challenges, these children find themselves locked in a cycle of poverty that is near impossible to escape.”
Read another two inspiring accounts of innovative solutions – ‘Life-saving’ bindis and iron fish – via:
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