News
Afya-Tek: Pushing for access to quality healthcare for all
Imagine a world where everyone has access to quality healthcare, no matter where they live.
Afya-Tek
Initiative
Afya-Tek connects community health workers, local drug shops and health facilities so families can access more coordinated care.
Afya-Tek is a health initiative in Tanzania, working to improve the quality and coordination of care for children, young people and their families. It digitally connects three parts of the health system: community health workers, local drug shops, and primary health facilities. This allows patients to be referred and followed up as they move between different points of care. By improving the flow of information between providers, Afya-Tek helps bring preventive and curative care closer to communities and strengthens continuity of care.
- Partners
- D-tree, Inspired Ideas Research Foundation, Institute of Tropical Medicine Antwerp, Ona, SkyConnect, HEBET Technologies, the Doris Mollel Foundation, Apotheker Health Access Initiative
- Working in
- Tanzania
- Approach
- Digitally connected care, data and referral across the health system
- Focus
- Maternal, child and adolescent health through digitally enabled care
- Launched
- 2019
Challenge
Care is available, but it is not always connected
Community health workers, health facilities and local drug shops all play an important role in Tanzania’s primary health care system. But when information and referrals do not move easily between them, care becomes fragmented. Better connections between these different points of care can help families access more coordinated and continuous support.
Afya-Tek has achieved a 90% referral completion rate – three times higher than typical health programmes.
Approach
Linking the providers around every patient
Afya-Tek digitally connects community health workers, local drug shops and primary health facilities, allowing information and referrals to follow patients across different pointsof care. Digital tools support health workers in decision-making, patient tracking and follow-up, while data helps improve coordination and identify where care can be strengthened. Building on lessons from Afya-Tek, elements of the approach are now being integrated into Tanzania’s national community health system.
