The Angolan public health system is being taken online by local startup Appy Saúde, which has seen its healthcare database attract 12,500 users since launching seven months ago.
Launched in April this year, Appy Saúde aims to put “health in your hand”, offering the biggest database of healthcare facilities in Angola – with over 1,700 establishments listed on the app.
Users can access information such as services offered, medical specialities covered, insurance accepted, as well as the contact details of the 1,700 medical facilities listed, which are located around the full span of Angola.
All the details were collected manually by the Appy Saúde team, with the startup claiming no other database of healthcare establishments existed prior to their work.
“We have no competitors at the moment. We are unique in the Angolan market. We know that we are the largest database because there is no other platform in Angola that contains and makes the data available as we do,” says Clara Vieira, marketing manager at Appy Saúde.
“The big search engines haven’t collected information on premises, as we have. We have collected information on-site in each of the 18 provinces. This complete and up-to-date information does not exist anywhere else.”
In addition to information of healthcare facilities and pharmacies, the app also includes a promotions menu – listing health promotions available across Angola; ratings and comments from users; and emergency and GP contacts and maps.
The app is free to download on iOS or Android, and over 12,500 users have already adopted the app since its launch seven months ago.
By the end of 2018, the startup hopes to have every health facility in Angola listed on the platform; and intends to launch a web-based version of the database. An appointment booking function is also in the pipeline.
“Appy Saúde’s main mission is to simplify people’s lives by providing useful and reliable health information,” Vieira says.
“It is essential to continue to provide this information [for]all citizens of Angola. We intend to continue to improve the Appy Saúde platform by providing more information and more services.”
