Remote Consultation via WhatsApp Revolutionises Surgical Care in Rural Malawi

The JEAY Healthcare app connects students with quality healthcare regardless of their location. App users can schedule appointments, meet with doctors over the phone or video calls and access an online pharmacy. Since launching in February 2023, the app has had over 300 downloads and sees about 130 daily users.

Famasi is a digital medication management platform that obtains a patient’s medication history and creates an individual care plan. The care plan includes a specialist who tracks drug use and side effects and also ensures medication is delivered to patients’ doors on a monthly basis. Because Famasi is available on mobile apps, patients can also track their medications and appointments from the comfort of their homes, which increases medication access, especially for those who struggle to make it to in-person care centers.

In 2020, Nigeria's Rural Electrification Agency installed a 50-kilowatt solar-hybrid system at Gombe State Specialist Hospital, providing uninterrupted electricity to critical units, including the ICU and emergency departments. Since its installation, maternal mortality dropped from 15-20 deaths monthly to 1-2 per month, and neonatal deaths also decreased from 50 to 20-25 monthly. The system has also helped healthcare workers perform life-saving surgeries without interruption, as these surgeries were often delayed or impossible due to power outages.

Anambra State’s telemedicine program is closing the healthcare access gap in rural communities, making universal health coverage more possible. The program began in 2022 and has since hired and trained 42 doctors in providing remote healthcare. As more people use the telemedicine program, public trust in primary healthcare across the region is increasing.

Preggify is a telehealth platform that provides 24-hour support for pregnant women, where they can connect with doctors, get prescriptions and receive guidance on how to navigate their pregnancy. The platform also organizes weekly educational classes, conducts regular vital and blood pressure measurements and also monitors expecting mothers’ mental health. The platform was founded in 2022 and has built a community of about 2,000 women.

AI software BabyChecker is a portable ultrasound tool that can be accessed through smartphones and allows community health workers to easily and quickly detect pregnancy risks in rural areas where access to care is difficult. So far, over 20 community health workers have been trained to use the technology, and more than 2,000 pregnant women have been scanned using the BabyChecker app.

Some hospitals like OHSU Hospital are free offering RV parking spaces with electric hookups for patients who are traveling great distances for medical treatment. Providing RV parking increases access to health care for patients, specifically those from rural areas. It also helps to improve patient comfort and quality of care, as they’re able to get a good night’s sleep in their RVs, rather than drive through the night or struggle to find lodging elsewhere.

The Medeecal app increases healthcare access by providing a range of telehealth services including health education, free medical consultations, preventative care, referrals and follow-up care. As of March 2023, the app has over 1,000 registered patients and provides about eight consultations a day.

The Davis Mountain Clinic, housed in a retrofitted shipping container, offers a hybrid telehealth model that addresses the unique barriers facing aging rural populations. Since opening in October 2025, the clinic provides a physical space with reliable connectivity and an on-site registered nurse who performs physical exams and helps facilitate virtual visits with remote physicians and specialists. Beyond medical visits, patients report successful navigation of healthcare systems with the clinic and Nurse Brewer's support.

The Grassroots Smile Initiative provides complimentary cleft lip surgeries and associated care, including nutritional support, speech therapy and other treatments. Since 2005, the group has performed over 3,000 free surgeries, averaging about 150 to 200 patients each year.