MedTrucks
Facilitating access to care in medical deserts
Project start date : 01/01/2016
Beneficiary country : Morocco
About the project
MedTrucks’ ambition is to equip local mobile healthcare providers to facilitate access to care in a context of scarcity and the uneven geographical distribution of resources. MedTrucks has developed an innovative mobile care concept to treat patients with chronic diseases, in an effort to provide a comprehensive and effective service. Our turnkey solution is composed medical trucks coupled with mapping tools. MedMapping: a medtruck deployment assistance service. MedTracking: a real-time medtruck management platform. MedTrucks: a medical truck with the latest mobile technology to enable the use of remote medicine. MedEducation: lastly, in emerging countries we help local staff to deliver quality, safe care. MedTrucks will improve the patients’ quality of life, as they spend less time in transit. It delivers quality care to places where there is a shortage, lessening inequality in access to care. All while retaining a care service of the same quality and safety standard as traditional specialist clinics, to make patients’ everyday life easier.
More than 250m people worldwide are living with chronic kidney disease. Undetected, renal disease leads to a progressive loss of kidney function, and ultimately to treatment by dialysis or kidney transplant. Kidney disease represents a major public health issue. Chronic kidney disease is constantly becoming more common, and so the role of public information and awareness among the medical community and governments has never been more important. Furthermore, statistics show that fewer than 30% of people with chronic kidney disease are aware of it. Today, Chronic Renal Insufficiency (CRI) is a real public health challenge due to its increase incidence and prevalence, in especially with regard to the high cost of replacement treatments. These major treatments are costly, and this expenditure is only predicted to rise. Firstly because the population is ageing, and secondly because diabetes and high blood pressure, the main causes of CRI, are themselves affecting more and more people. In Morocco today, one third of those suffering have no access to treatment. Furthermore, the long travel distances in medical deserts make the treatment shortage all the more acute. All the more so given that patients with renal insufficiency have to cover the cost of travelling to the clinic themselves. 10,000 patients are currently receiving dialysis and another 5000 are on the waiting list, with 4000 new cases arising every year. The situation is critical and expenditure is predicted to climb sharply due to an ageing population and the fact more people are suffering from diabetes and high blood pressure. Some regions of Morocco and other emerging countries are still suffering from major issues with access to treatment. These problems are, amongst other reasons, due to the increasing shortage of competent healthcare staff and quality, safe infrastructure, as well as geographical obstacles.
The MedTrucks initiative is designed to assist healthcare stakeholders in the optimal delivery of mobile treatments. Our initiative provides access to powerful, innovative tools to develop mobile treatment in remote areas. We use big data to calculate the route, and by incorporating stops our customers are able to expand their work into isolated areas, which were previously medical deserts. We encourage the survival of rural areas by combating medical desertification. Patients can live at home for longer, hospital departments are freed up, an treatments are more easily accepted.
2 Full-Time equivalents
N/C Employees
N/C Volunteers
N/C Service providers



0
Number of beneficiaries since launch
Target audience
- Healthcare professionals and structures (hospitals, healthcare centres/clinics, health networks)
- Sick people
- Patient family/entourage
Project objectives
- Improved treatment
Materials used
- Cellular (mobile) phone
- Smartphone
- Tablet
- Computer
Technologies used
- Geolocation
About the sponsor
MedTrucks
Providing support to healthcare players delivering mobile treatment units in the medical deserts of Morocco and other emerging economies. Combating medical deserts by delivering care to the right place just when it’s needed. We offer a comprehensive range of services that include real-time mapping, route mapping tools, an online catalogue of mobile units, and a training platform.
Sector : Industrial (Startups, enterprises, etc.)
Country of origin : Morocco
Contact : Sponsor website Project website
Offline use
Yes
Open source
No
Open data
Yes
Independent evaluation
No
Partners
ESRI
Industrial (Startups, enterprises, etc.)
Ecole des Mines d'Alès
Academic entities (Universities, research laboratories, etc)