NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Thursday, September 8, 2016

South African startup Vula Mobile, which connects general health workers in remote areas with specialists in hospitals, has diversified its offering having seen positive uptake of its service targeting eye health.

Vula Mobile, which was last year a winner at both the MTN Business App of the Year Awards and the African Entrepreneurship Award, allows health workers to capture basic patient information, take photographs, do a basic eye test and capture a brief medical history before sending it directly to a specialist.

They can ask for advice over a dedicated messaging platform, and decide on the best course of care for the patient.Eyeing what it describes as the “huge potential” of the global m-health market, the startup has now expanded its offering into other areas of health.

Vula Mobile services are now available in the areas of Orthopaedics, Dermatology, Cardiology, ENT, HIV, Family Medicine, and Burns, as well as the original Ophthalmology.