Publications
Publications
- March 2017
- HBS Case Collection
PharmAccess and the M-TIBA Platform: Leveraging Digital Technology in the Developing World
By: Kevin Schulman, Sashidaran Moodley and Anant Vasudevan
Abstract
PharmAccess is an Amsterdam-based NGO working to support the development of the private health care market in Africa. This work is critical as over 50% of care is delivered through the private sector, but well-intentioned efforts to address global health through the public sector have the unintended consequence of crowding out capital formation in the private sector. PharmaAccess is working to crowd-in funding instead through the development of a three-pronged effort in Kenya. They are working to address supply through efforts to improve the quality of health care facilities through education and through a micro-lending program. At the same time, they are working to address demand through the development of the M-TIBA mobile health wallet. The critical question for this case is whether these efforts, in essence the development of a novel platform simultaneously addressing supply and demand, will be enough to change the dynamics of the private health care market.
Keywords
Finance; Entrepreneurship; Health Care and Treatment; Online Technology; Health Industry; Africa; Kenya
Citation
Schulman, Kevin, Sashidaran Moodley, and Anant Vasudevan. "PharmAccess and the M-TIBA Platform: Leveraging Digital Technology in the Developing World." Harvard Business School Case 317-103, March 2017.