Focusing on the last mile to improve health outcomes

Investment highlights

Madiro’s lead investment in HE was leveraged 10x to close a €10m euro round.
Madiro also provides support with evidence generation via monitoring and evaluation and implementation research. The goal is to generate actionable insights to inform HE’s path to scale.
To date, Healthy Entrepreneurs has onboarded over 15,000 CHWs in 7 countries.

Leveraging community-based care and mobile technologies to impact the health of remote communities.

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In the context of shortages in human resources in health sectors across sub-Saharan Africa, community health workers (CHWs) are key resources to accelerate health goals by engaging in preventative health activities, disease surveillance, and support for the growing burden of chronic diseases.

Healthy Entrepreneurs (HE), a social enterprise, offers a scalable solution by providing technology-enabled community-based care. This enhances access to quality health products and services in remote communities while offering micro-franchise opportunities to existing ministry of health CHWs, thereby increasing their motivation and income.

Healthy Entrepreneurs offers Community Health Workers (CHWs) an investment opportunity to become ‘Community Health Entrepreneurs’. Qualified CHWs pay an investment fee of $40 to enter the program. In exchange, they receive training, a solar-powered smartphone, and a starter kit of health products worth $100 on credit. The training includes modules on health, business skills and the use of two apps that support their work. The health app with videos and algorithms to support the quality of their work and the product order app promotes the assortment and facilitates ordering.

These CHWs are able to sell health care products and educate their customers, turning remote villages into healthier and better-informed communities.

Madiro's lead investment in HE was leveraged 10x to close a €10m euro round. Madiro’s Programs also provides support with evidence generation via monitoring and evaluation and implementation research. This generated actionable insights to inform HE’s path to scale.

By aligning the interests of the health system, CHWs and patients, HE overcomes barriers to widespread adoption of the community health model in African countries. HE is on track to onboard 90,000 CHWs, serving 100 million people in 10 countries.

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Community Health Entrepreneur Testimonial

"My name is Etinoh Arina from Kayunga, I am working as a Community Health Entrepreneur in the Healthy Entrepreneurs program.

Before I joined Healthy Entrepreneurs, my life was hard and difficult. I didn’t have any source of income and taking care of myself and the entire family was a challenge. Thanks to Healthy entrepreneurs my standards of living have greatly improved, we can earn some money every day. I have been able to generate school fees for my children and they have been able to join good performing schools.

The HE service improved the living conditions in my community, compared to when I was just working as a Village Health Team (VHT). Now, I can supply medicine at a cheap and affordable price. During home visits, I help patients and let them talk to the doctor with the doctor-at-a-distance services. Even with the MUAC tapes, we can easily identify the malnourished children which in the end helps reduce the death rates in my community. With all this, patients are able to save on time and transport costs, they don’t have to move from one place to another looking for assistance.

Ever since the HE training, a lot of changes have been happening in my life which am grateful for. Due to the family planning training, I started myself also on family planning. With this, I am now spacing my children which I was not previously doing. I can assure you that both me and my breast-feeding baby we are in a very good health.

I live in the community myself, and I am always accessible. Members approach me and ask about any challenges and myths they face about some medicines or family planning. We are even try to involve the husbands in the health talks of family planning, the turn up is not yet good but those that turn up always appreciate the service.

The service has really helped the mothers to keep their families healthy and save on hospital bills. This has reduced domestic violence in the community as previously it was too much due to disagreements between husbands and wives because of expenditure like hospital bills.

Through HE I have gained a lot of experience and confidence as far as health care is concerned. I also got to learn more about other family planning methods and different types of contraceptives. Ladies in my community have greatly appreciated a lot my services and they have been coming to me in large numbers."