by Moyosola Kara
Meet Doctors Zara Isa Modibbo and Nabila Ado Wanka, creating safe and reliable healthcare, by women, for women. The pairing of Drs Isa Modibbo and Ado Wanka would please many within the field of life sciences due to their individual accomplishments within the sector. They have combined experience of over two decades in their respective fields, the former a celebrated clinical microbiologist, infectious disease epidemiologist and clinical researcher, and the latter, an accomplished Cytopathologist, Anatomic and Cancer Specialist. The award-winning pair who have maintained a friendship for over three decades have teamed up to partner on the launch of a service near and dear to them - the improvement of laboratory processes in connection to women’s health in Africa, beginning with their home country, Nigeria.
Through their brainchild, Débbo Africa, they have set out to provide accessible, reliable, and safe healthcare for African women. Débbo is a ‘for women, by women’ integrated women’s health platform providing personalised medical diagnostics and virtual health specialist consultations on gynaecology, reproductive, mental, and family health, diet, and nutrition among others.
The launch of Débbo Africa is both timely and sadly, necessary. Using Nigeria, their flagship country, as a premise, just over a third of women have no say in decision making regarding their own health in contrast to men, Ado Wanka mentions. She also adds that women are unable to make informed health decisions due to a lack of awareness and information on inherent risk factors that can lead to diseases such as cancer, diabetes, hypertension, and communicable diseases. Débbo Africa is democratising women’s health in Africa.
“Half of Nigerian women have reported a problem while trying to access health care for themselves. This means half of Nigerian women, who have recognised they needed medical care, could not get the help required because they did not know which type of doctor to see about their symptoms, or there was no specialist available, or the appointment waiting time was too long. Majority of women simply do not trust our current healthcare system to provide them with the necessary support to alleviate their health problems. We want to ease the healthcare journey for women by providing them with an accessible, convenient, and private health service.”
“There is also a lack of understanding of presentations of ailments, and the need to screen for preventable diseases like cervical cancer. Breast and cervical cancer are the most common cancers diagnosed in Nigeria (35.6% of all cancers), and about 80% of women in some communities in Nigeria, are unaware of cervical cancer” she adds. This lack of awareness which could mitigate ailments among women in Africa, forms the foundation of many problems Débbo is setting out to solve.
Prior to founding Débbo Africa, Drs Isa Modibbo and Ado Wanka had worked closely together building the laboratory infrastructure and capacity for the pioneering private genomics and biobank company in Africa. The first ever venture backed genomics company of its kind, which at the time of reporting, had raised $94.7m according to CrunchBase.
“As women ourselves, we have experienced the frustrations and difficulties faced by women when navigating the existing health system. We have a deep understanding of the issues faced by women and the barriers that exist to seeking healthcare. Women oftentimes are too preoccupied with taking care of the needs of others and juggling work life balance that in most cases their own health is put on the backburner. The last thing they need when trying to seek medical attention is to be faced with several time-consuming obstacles, lack of privacy, and scepticism in the results. Specific female issues such as those related to hormonal imbalances are better understood by a female provider. Sometimes these turn out to be of paramount importance and delay in understanding such issues lead to poor health outcomes.”
Drs Zara Isa Modibbo (L) and Nabila Ado Wanka (R)
As the pair look to provide best-in-class diagnostics for ailments, fertility tests are an additional offering under Débbo Africa. In Nigeria, infertility is still a stigmatised subject, despite improvements in perception and knowledge in the more recent years and not many centres cater to the need for privacy and discretion. Débbo is changing that by providing private intimate settings for couples where they can trust the process and rely on the diagnosis.
Beyond catering to the physical healthcare of women, private and group in-person mental health counselling sessions are provided by certified counsellors offering therapy sessions for women who have suffered trauma caused by grief, loss, sexual abuse, infidelity amongst other prevalent issues. A subscription-based service called the ‘Débbo Tribe’ is also provided as an avenue for women to support other women in areas of similar difficulty such as infertility, cancer survival, miscarriage, and others in a confidential and private setting.
The brain drain in the country especially within the healthcare industry has reduced the availability of healthcare practitioners within Nigeria and Débbo is not unaffected. The founders describe this as their biggest challenge to date. However, they are leveraging their wide network to pull in skilled female providers in a bid to meet the growing demand for quality healthcare for women within the country. In addition, by adapting technology, virtual consultations can take place with skilled professionals from various parts of the world, mitigating the impact of the labour migration. Currently, the health platform, which is under a year old, already has a growing network of over 100 healthcare providers.
Ultimately, the goal as described by Modibbo and Wanka, is for Débbo Africa to make quality healthcare accessible to women in Africa. They also aim to reach all women in every nook and cranny of Africa. In the coming year, an expansion plan is in place to move into more cities within the country.
Moyosola Kara is an innovative and self-motivated communication strategist and philanthropist who has dedicated herself to creating unique communication strategies while being a source of positive change through social impact. She graduated from the University of Pretoria with a Bachelor Degree in Economics and Law but with her wilful and determined spirit, she managed to make a swift career change into the communications and marketing industry, working with leading local and global brands. She is also the creator of the Sponsor a Mom network which strives to create opportunities and resources to improve the lives of single mothers in Nigeria and South Africa.
www.samnetwork.org | Instagram | Twitter | Email themoyosola@yahoo.com
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