Digital health platform Axmed has entered a partnership with three major procurer-providers across East and West Africa to improve access to critical Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health medicines. This collaboration will empower them to source essential treatments more affordably and at scale, ensuring better healthcare outcomes for millions of mothers and newborns.
The Mission for Essential Drugs and Supplies (MEDS) in Kenya and CHAN Medi-Pharm in Nigeria, as well as Ecumenical Pharmaceutical Network (EPN) have joined forced with Swiss startup Axmed to improve access to life-saving medicines for mothers, newborns, and children (MNCH).
Each year, over 287,000 women lose their lives to preventable pregnancy and childbirth complications, while 2.3 million newborns die within their first month. With Sub-Saharan Africa bearing a disproportionate share of these tragedies, this challenge highlights the urgent need for new solutions that disrupt the current system.
Axmed developed a B2B marketplace platform that optimizes the procurement process for healthcare providers in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), revolutionizing access to medicines. The platform aggregates demand for both off-patent and patented medicines, creating larger, more cost-effective order volumes for manufacturers while simultaneously enhancing buyer leverage on cost and availability. The platform further streamlines the process by curating and consolidating Requests for Proposals and efficiently mapping out supply logistics.
The newly launched partnership focuses on scaling MNCH and nutrition interventions in Nigeria and Kenya. By leveraging faith-based organizations’ deep-rooted connections in these communities, the partnership also empowers health workers, aligning care with national guidelines, and catalyzing sustainable solutions like drug revolving funds in 250 faith-based health facilities across the two countries.
The Axmed Platform plays a pivotal role in this effort, streamlining procurement and ensuring cost-effective access to essential medicines for postpartum hemorrhage (PHP) and neonatal care products. These efforts are already delivering a measurable impact, with thousands of families benefiting from improved access to care.
Emmanuel Akpakwu, Chief Executive Officer of Axmed, says, “Collaboration is the cornerstone of transformative healthcare solutions. This partnership exemplifies how we can break barriers to access and deliver life-saving medicines to the mothers and children who need them most. Together, we’re improving health outcomes for families across the continent.”
(Press release/RAN)
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