Z-waka: Empowering Healthcare Access and Capacity Building through Digital Innovation in LMICs

Z-waka addresses critical gaps in healthcare capacity and access in LMICs, where there is often a shortage of trained healthcare professionals and limited tools to manage patient care. By offering scalable, digital solutions, Z-waka improves HCP skills, enhances patient tracking, and strengthens primary care systems. It bridges the gap between health systems and underserved communities through cost-effective and efficient technology.

Z-waka is a Singapore-headquartered impact-first digital health platform designed to improve healthcare access, professional capacity building, and patient engagement in LMICs. It delivers an integrated solution to train healthcare professionals (HCPs), facilitate real-time data collection, and enhance patient management through innovative digital tools.

Key components of the initiative:

• Training of HCPs: Offering CME-accredited programs through webinars, VOD courses, quizzes, and assessments to upskill doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and community health workers (CHWs).
• Patient Engagement: Using digital agents (SMS and messaging apps) for reminders, health education, and follow-up, enhancing treatment adherence and awareness.
• Data Collection and EMR Integration: Enabling patient data management, rapid-response surveys, and tailored templates for disease-specific projects (eg, TB, mental health).

Z-waka currently operates in Myanmar, Vietnam, and Cambodia, with planned expansions to Indonesia and other LMICs.

Z-waka stands out for its integrated and holistic approach to addressing healthcare challenges in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs):

• Tailored for LMICs: Designed specifically for low-resource settings with a mobile-first approach and offline capability, ensuring accessibility even in areas with limited connectivity.
• Two-Sided Solution: Z-waka bridges the gap between healthcare professionals (HCPs) and patients, providing tools for HCP training, knowledge sharing, and capacity building, while extending to patient engagement through digital agents for health education, reminders, and follow-up up ups.
• Proven Track Record: Successfully implemented across multiple LMICs (Myanmar, Vietnam, Cambodia), working with public health institutions, Ministries of Health, medical universities, and global organizations such as USAID, UNFPA, UNICEF, and WHO.
• Flexibility and Scalability: The platform is highly adaptable and customizable to meet disease-specific and country-specific needs, allowing for rapid scale-up and seamless integration into diverse healthcare systems.
• Deep Domain Knowledge: Our management team uniquely combines medical expertise with technology expertise, giving us a deep understanding of LMIC healthcare systems and the specific pain points they face. We know how to work within local contexts, building solutions that are practical, culturally appropriate, and effective.
• Holistic Healthcare Management: Z-waka goes beyond addressing a small segment of the healthcare system. We provide an end-to-end solution that supports healthcare organizations with centralized project and HCP management, healthcare professionals through capacity-building and tools to improve service delivery, and patients via digital agents for ongoing care, education, and adherence support.

This comprehensive, user-centered approach ensures Z-waka not only improves capacity and efficiency for HCPs and organizations but also directly impacts patient outcomes, contributing to stronger and more resilient healthcare systems in LMICs.