Ongoing civil wars, natural disasters, and infectious disease outbreaks have left the healthcare system in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in a fragile state. The infant and maternal mortality rates are very high, and the number of chronically ill people is increasing annually. Access to healthcare providers is severely limited; for every 100,000 inhabitants, there are on average only 7 doctors available. The majority of health services - including essential basic care - must be paid for by patients out-of-pocket. However, people often lack funds for treatment and essential medication, forcing them to go into debt.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo and throughout sub-Saharan Africa, the use of mobile money is widespread. Anyone who owns a cell phone can convert cash into mobile money, which they can use to pay for everyday expenses such as bus tickets or vegetables at the market - essentially replacing a regular bank account.

mTOMADY uses this existing mobile payment infrastructure to facilitate financial access to healthcare. In project city Bukavu, DRC, patients can transfer money from their mobile money account to a Mobile Health Wallet. Using a password-protected USSD menu to access their account, they can top it up, view their balance, and send or pay money. All deposited funds can only be used for health-related expenses and payments can only be transferred to healthcare providers.

During the first phase of the project 500 patients will be able to use the wallet to securely send, save, and spend mobile money on healthcare costs. Ten partnering healthcare providers will benefit from digital claims management that will reduce payment delays and fund leakage due to fraud.

Location: Bukavu, Democratic Republic of the Congo
Launch planned for 2024