According to UNICEF, pneumonia kills half a million children under five each year in sub-Saharan Africa. A main contributing factor is the slow diagnosis. Ugandan inventor Brian Turabagye has created a biomedical smart jacket that can diagnose the condition four times faster than a doctor and it’s also more accurate. Its sensors pick up sound patterns from the lungs, temperature and breathing rate and within four minutes, the data is computed and sent to a mobile phone application which then gives a diagnosis. The device is called MamaOpe, which means “mother’s hope”. Since it doesn’t require a doctor to run the tests, it can be used at remote locations. This wearable medical device could help save millions of lives in Africa and beyond every year.
An increasing number of start-ups in Africa are driving innovation, and contributing to an innovative business environment that seeks to offer consumers better experiences in areas such as commerce, health, finance, and agriculture. There is no doubt that innovation in Africa will continue to play a key role in its sustainable development future.
