Healthcare delivery around the globe is taking a new technological twist and it is refreshing to know that Africa is not getting left behind. In this era of smart devices and high internet connectivity, each of us deserves better access to healthcare information from the ease of our mobile phones to better manage our health and make better-informed lifestyle choices. Healthcare data and trends are a big part of proper personal, social and big healthcare delivery.
The good news is that the much anticipated HealthMobile phone app is now available for download.
Who developed the app?
Joshua Ihejiamaizu is an entrepreneur, designer (web, graphics, UI/UX) and innovator.He shares a strong passion for IT, writing and tech-related innovation.
Johnson Okorie is a cross-platform programmer and developer with vast experience and skill set in the .NET framework (Visual Basic, C#, ASP.NET, and XNA), Database management systems (MySQL), C++ and Java for Blackberry and Android development.
What does the app focus on?
HealthMobile provides over 4,000 Health Topics/Information for quick access, Health News focusing on various categories important to the user and delivered by location choice, Food/Diet Information containing over 800,000 recipes for Lifestyle Planning, Hospital Locator Service for finding the nearest hospital around you, Drugs/Supplements information, First Aid Information and videos to accompany.
What inspired the creation of the app?
Every big idea starts with a small problem. In our community at FUTO, we observed an outbreak of typhoid amongst students was not easily curtailed because the students were misdiagnosing typhoid for malaria, and hence taking the wrong treatment (self-medication). So, we decided to create a platform that would help users make better informed choices as well as help the local medical center keep track of outbreaks. After brainstorming sessions, we decided to go mobile because it was green, open-source, and wide spread. We could reach everyone by creating a mobile app, and we had the skill to do that. So our project has evolved from a simple app that helps students at FUTO diagnose between Malaria and Typhoid and helps the medical center track emergencies and outbreaks, to the global mobile app that we have today.
General response since the app has been launched?
Firstly, we had a good turn-out of doctors at our app launching event in Cross River State. Also, we have had a good response from users – people seem to like the interface design a lot. Generally though, our app is on about seven app stores (Google, Amazon, Opera, MTN, and AppBrain inclusive) and the response in terms of downloads and like for the idea has been great.
What does the future hold for Health Mobile?
We are already working the Exercise & Fitness and Health Index Calculator sections of the Lifestyle Planning tools widget. What we want to do is recommend food & diet plans and exercise & fitness plans s for users, using results from the user’s health index calculations (such as BMI). So we can tell you how many calories you can lose by doing say 30minutes of a particular exercise. Secondly, we want to create our own web service so we can be less reliant on Google for our health news.
To download the app, use any of the following links:
Google Play
Opera Store
Amazon App Store
MTN Next Apps
ApkBrain
