Compared to the past year, a number of African based startups were representing at SLUSH this year. One of them, Toto Health in particular got my attention as I believe they are a major health solution for the continent. Toto Health is a startup based out of Kenya and helping pregnant and nursing mothers in rural and urban Kenya gain access to health information for themselves and their wards using SMS technology.
Speaking with the CEO, Felix Kimaru, he said he finds joy in the feedback they get from mothers, health workers and the government in how the application has helped them in changing lives. He cited an example of how one woman in rural Kenya actually subscribed thinking they are “witches” asking how they could know so much about her child more than she does.
In trying to get the human touch to the whole process, they developed the app in the way that is easier to use allowing users to input information as much as they get information from the community. So far, we have great feedback and hope to scale to as many African countries as possible, he says.
Toto Health is currently available to expectant mom, nursing mothers, dads, nannies, healthcare givers, hospitals and health related NGO’s. According to its website, Toto Health currently has about 3100 parents, 500 community health volunteers and 8 hospitals registered on it’s platform.
Editor’s note: Abayomi sent this in from Helsinki where he is based and involved with technology and startups.
Photo Credit: World Bank Photo Collection via Compfight cc
