With the rapidly expanding population in East Africa posing a great challenge for healthcare professionals, steps must be taken in order to combat the increasing doctor-patient ratios in developing countries. In East Africa, there is only one doctor for every 50,000 people, while in the United States, the ratio is one in 390. Clearly, the current state of East Africa’s healthcare system must be addressed. This is where Mashavu steps in.

Mashavu means “chubby cheeks” in Swahili, the native language in Kenya. Due to the expanding population of Kenya, children are often victimized by their limited access to healthcare. This poses a great threat to the millions of orphans and children living on the streets. Mashavu is a telemedicine platform that will allow healthcare professionals from around the world to connect with patients in the rural areas of developing countries. The Mashavu kiosk will take photographs of each patient and use various biomedical devices in order to collect an assortment of medical data, including the patient’s weight, body temperature, lung capacity, blood pressure, and heart rate. This data will be transmitted to doctors using a GRPS or 3G network, both of which are popular and affordable in East Africa.

The information that is collected from patients will be aggregated on a web server. This will allow doctors from around the world to view the patient’s information. Doctors will then provide medical advice to both the patient as well as their nearest doctor; patients will only need to follow up with a local doctor if necessary. The information will also be anonymized so that it can be used by local community leaders and doctors in order to evaluate general health trends and identify epidemics.

At the Mashavu kiosk, a patient will be greeted by a trained facilitator. The facilitator will help the user to effectively interact with the kiosk so that accurate information can be gathered. The patient will be encouraged to interact directly with the software. Children will also enjoy interacting with this unique interface.

The cost of each Mashavu system will be around $200, not including a cell phone or internet link. The customer base will include orphanages, community centers, churches, and medical entrepreneurs.  Medical entrepreneurs will own their own Mashavu system, similar to owning a part of a franchise, and will charge between $0.80 and $1.00 for each visit. During summer 2008, a team conducted a survey in Tanzania in order to determine the feasibility of establishing such a business. The people of Tanzania overwhelmingly supported this venture.

Sustainability is the important feature of this system. With the Mashavu telemedicine solution in place, care will be given to those who may have never experienced sufficient healthcare. In the future, non-profit organizations may sell the Mashavu kiosks to underdeveloped regions around the world.