The MRC/UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit and Innotrope, partners in the Digital Innovations and Diagnostics for Infectious Diseases in Africa (DIDIDA) consortium hosted a two-day Digital Health Hackathon at the African Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Data-Intensive Science, at Makerere University in Kampala. The hackathon brought together young innovators from diverse backgrounds, including software developers, data scientists, business strategists, and healthcare professionals, to collectively propose creative technological solutions for Africa’s health challenges.
“This hackathon represents a unique opportunity to empower local talent and co-develop solutions that truly respond to the needs on the ground,” said Julien Sudre, Project Coordinator of DIDIDA.
The event provided a dynamic environment where teams collaborated to create innovative digital health tools, with expert guidance from senior scientists at the MRC Uganda Unit.
Six outstanding digital prototypes emerged as probable innovations, each addressing a different healthcare challenge. The EMi App was designed to instantly alert health facilities and personnel during medical emergencies; Medi-Track, a web-based tool developed to support health workers remotely monitor outpatients, improving continuity of care and Sanyu Check offered a mobile antenatal tracking tool enhanced with educational resources to support expectant mothers throughout their pregnancy journey. Other prototypes included MoHOaTS, a system developed to streamline and track mobile health outreach services, and HerHealth, an app delivering simplified, accessible health education as well as Infecti-Connect that introduced a real-time alert system to inform health authorities of disease outbreaks and their geographic spread.
According to Dr. Harriet Mpairwe, a clinician at the MRC/UVRI & LSHTM Uganda Research Unit, the event provided a platform for Ugandan youth to contribute to health management. She said,
"The hackathon has made it evident that Uganda has brilliant young people with fascinating ideas that can be transformed into real life digital health solutions. Based on the prototypes developed, the teams have demonstrated a unique ability to understand healthcare challenges in Africa, and we hope that they can continue developing their skills and ideas into real world solutions."
The emerging partnership with the African Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Data-Intensive Science signifies an opportunity to collaborate with academia to practically harness Uganda’s innovativeness and skills towards the creation of context-specific, sustainable solutions for contemporary challenges in diseases management in Africa.
About DIDIDA
Digital Innovations and Diagnostics for Infectious Diseases in Africa (DIDIDA) , is a research project funded by the European Union and UKRI aiming to develop user-friendly and low-cost diagnostic tools integrated on mobile phone platforms to improve healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa.
The project combines health research, socio-economic studies and digital innovation. DIDIDA also plans to work on digital health infrastructure and train a new generation of African experts to meet the health needs of the continent.
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