Launched in January 2021, Zuri Health aims to improve access to healthcare in Africa through mobile phone applications and services. It was an idea borne by Ikechukwu (Iyke) Anoke (in the image on the right) and Daisy Isiaho (left).

Iyke’s motivation to start the healthcare company was very personal. The first scenario was the birth of his first child, Zuri. His wife was in labour and the pregnancy had complications at that time and their doctor was unavailable. Their (private) hospital could not even give them a replacement to deal with the complication, as they claimed they had no access to Iyke’s wife’s medical history. The second scenario was when Iyke himself wasn’t feeling well, and his wife, a medical doctor by profession, encouraged him to stay home while she called for someone to come take medical tests from his home. He had his results given to him over phone in less than 2 days.

This sparked a thought: how amazing it would be for patients get access to healthcare from the comfort of their home, get medical prescriptions delivered, get their results without ever having to step into a hospital, and have a medical history on a digital platform that will be easy for any doctor they consult to see as long as the patient approves access to it.

Daisy’s story was personal too. When Covid hit Kenya, she was forced to work from home. Her mother, a medical doctor, had to leave home everyday to go and consult with patients, give prescriptions and take tests. This was worrying for Daisy who feared her mother would catch Covid-19. She wondered if there was a way to take these consultations, tests and prescriptions onto an online or mobile platform.

These two ideas collided and so Zuri Health was born.

Here’s more about the founders:

Ikechukwu Anoke

Daisy Isiaho