In-Reach Africa initiatives completed

As part of its Access to Healthcare Strategy and 2025 Manifesto, Boehringer Ingelheim has been driving numerous initiatives across the world, seeking availability, sustainability and innovation of healthcare solutions in communities affected by poverty, inequality and lack of resources.

The In-Reach Africa program has been one of the driving forces behind this commitment, facilitating quality and innovative human and animal healthcare access across the African continent. As such, we are proud to report the recent completion of Kuza Afya and Tiba Yako, two of our In-Reach Africa initiatives in Kenya.

Kuza Afya

Running for the entirety of 2019 and in collaboration with AMPATH, the Kuza Afya initiative circled around providing comprehensive education and raising sensibility for diabetes and hypertension, screening and providing adequate care for patients in Bungoma, Western Kenya.

Facts & Figures

• Over 79,000 people sensitized on diabetes and hypertension, combined with accompanying media attention
• 79,406 community members screened, surpassing the initial commitment by 60%
• 10,541 new cases of hypertension diagnosed
• 2,349 new cases of diabetes diagnosed
• 500 community health workers, 58 nurses and clinical officers trained
• 25 facilities supported with training and equipment
• Twelve community groups formed and used as care groups, with clinicians visiting the groups for consultation and medication supply
• Education and screening conducted in 57 existing community groups

Tiba Yako

Launched by PharmAccess and Boehringer Ingelheim in March 2019, Tiba Yako is a digital service model for hypertension and diabetes care, aiming to increase awareness, access, and adherence to care, resulting in better health outcomes and transparent insights into the actual costs of treatment. The enrolled patients received access to a mobile health wallet with which they could save for healthcare expenses and receive discounted prices for treatment of chronic diseases. Using an acquired device to measure their blood pressure and/or glucose values at home, they were trained by agents to enter these values in a self-management app.

Facts & Figures:

• 1435 patients enrolled
• 87% diagnosed with hypertension
• 13% was diagnosed with diabetes
• 27% diagnosed with both hypertension and diabetes
• 84% service usage rate by enrolled patients
• 48% patient adherence / patients enrolled longer than 6 months in the program, still used services in the last 3 months – almost doubling the expected adherence rate