Problem Statement
Nigeria has the highest cancer mortality rate in Africa, according to the World Health Organization. Low awareness, late detection, unavailability of medicines and high cost of treatments are major factors contributing to increasing mortality in the west African nation.
In Nigeria, cancer is responsible for around 72,000 deaths every year, with an estimated 102,000 new cases annually.
Solution
Our solution was focused towards Awareness (information about cancer), Availability and Affordability (cost of treatment and medication). Our first priority was creating cancer awareness amongst people and then connecting them with our client’s initiative of affordable cancer medications.
Process
We followed the iterative design thinking process.
User Research
Secondary Research
We performed Online Desk Research to collect the data from existing resources. We refined our searching techniques to get promising and relevant research. We came across the following facts and figures during our research:
- Lack of information, delay in reporting cancer-related cases fuels higher mortality rate in Nigeria.
- Early, accurate cancer diagnosis can significantly increase a patient’s chance of survival. However, many hospitals in Africa are not equipped with the machines or operating technicians needed to meet demand.
- Nigeria’s pharmaceutical sector is largely dependent on foreign exchange, which is unpredictable and volatile. This results in lack of drug price control. Since many patients cannot afford the costs, they often abandon hospital tests and treatment.
- Doctors have to prescribe only the available medicines locally which are sometimes less effective compared to the latest high-quality medicines.
