On Innovating Femtech - HIMSS Europe Series with Mariatheresa Kadushi

Episode Transcript

Mariatheresa Kadushi

00:00:00

We want to also contribute in creating unique data that train AI models and we believe that in order to create artificial intelligence that is less biased, we have to document and tell women's stories and we have to improve how healthcare practices are now where we already know that there's a lot of bias and we don't want that to repeat again also in the new technologies that we create.

My name is Mariatheresa Kadushi. I am the founder of Mobile Afya and SheHer App.

Claire Murigande

00:00:46

Hello dear listeners, welcome to a new episode of our HIMSS Europe special series on Narratives of Purpose.

This week I bring you interviews with three speakers of the HIMSS Women's Health in Focus track from the session titled “Intersectional Innovation: Addressing Health Disparities”.

These interviews were recorded in Paris back in June at the HIMSS, the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society European flagship event, also considered as Europe's number one digital health conference.

For those of you listening to Narratives of Purpose for the first time, my name is Claire Murigande.

I am your host on this podcast which is all about amplifying social impact by showcasing unique stories of global change makers who are contributing to make a difference in society.

My guest today is Mariatheresa Kadushi. This is the second time I speak with Mariatheresa on Narratives of Purpose.

Last year she was a featured guest in our Women's Health series with one of her co-founders. She spoke about the SheHer app. Have a listen to episode 75 for that conversation.

Today, Mariatheresa shares the latest work that her team is focusing on with the SheHer app. They are focused on turning women's stories collected through the app into data that will train AI models.

Mariatheresa also talks about Mobile Afya, another digital health solution that she created in Tanzania, a solution enhancing healthcare access to marginalized groups and people in rural areas, creating apps in local and native languages across Africa.

Remember to rate and review our show wherever you listen to your podcasts or simply share your thoughts and feedback on the Narratives of Purpose website using this short link bit.ly/narrativesofpurpose then select the review page.

For now, get comfortable and let's dive into the conversation with Mariatheresa.

Mariatheresa Kadushi

00:02:54

My name is Mariatheresa Kadushi and thank you Claire for having me once again, I work in digital health both in Africa and in Europe and North America.

I'm the co-founder of SheHer App where we work to bring access of healthcare to women digitally, but also tell their stories from their perspectives.

Claire Murigande

00:03:15

So it's the second time that you're on the podcast and last time you were here with your co-founder, the co-founder of SheHer app who is based in California. Shamala. Exactly. So tell me, has anything changed or what is new with your app since we spoke last fall in October?

Mariatheresa Kadushi

00:03:31

Not much has changed, but now we're working on a new aspect, which is the data. So we want to also contribute in creating unique data that train AI models.

And we believe that in order to create artificial intelligence that is less biased, we have to document and tell women's stories and we have to change how or improve how healthcare practices are now where we already know that there's a lot of bias and we don't want that to repeat again also in the new technologies that we create. So. So this is our new focus.

It's still within our work, but it's an area that we are now really putting a lot of focus and work on.

Claire Murigande

00:04:14

So does that mean the way you're developing the app is taking a new turn, so to speak, or you're adding in some...

Mariatheresa Kadushi

00:04:22

new elements?

Claire Murigande

00:04:22

Yeah, new elements, right.

Mariatheresa Kadushi

00:04:24

Not really. So the goal is still the same.

Initially we focused a lot on telling women's stories and ensuring that women's stories, but also women's dignity in terms of their experiences and how they live their lives in their womanhood is covered.

But now we also want to make sure that those stories are turned into data and useful data that is used to also train some models, AI models that we're developing, but also that other players in digital health in Femtech are, are working on.

Claire Murigande

00:05:00

So you're creating more value with what comes out of the app, basically.

Mariatheresa Kadushi

00:05:04

Yes, exactly, exactly.

But I think also we were not communicating this initially because we were focusing on what does the app do, but now we also want to focus on the value that the app adds in the ecosystem at large.

Claire Murigande

00:05:21

And you also work in Africa. Can you tell us about mobile Afya?

Mariatheresa Kadushi

00:05:25

That's my, that's my baby that is a bit grown, so I'm kind of abandoning it a little.

But that is also digital health, but not only focusing on women, but focusing on enhancing access of health care to marginalized groups and to people in rural areas.

So it's an offline application that works to disseminate health information, but also connect people in rural areas or small towns who do not have access to Internet with medical doctors. And I've been working on it since 2016, so almost ten years. Yeah a while.

It started as a, as a research project and then it grew into a company and now it has its, it can stand on its own feet.

So I'm focusing more on SheHer as we are working to get it off the ground.

Claire Murigande

00:06:22

So you'll be in a session here on Thursday in the women's health track.

Mariatheresa Kadushi

00:06:26

Yes. I'm super excited.

Claire Murigande

00:06:27

Yeah. So tell me a bit about what is the message you want to convey through your talk during this session?

Mariatheresa Kadushi

00:06:34

The session is centered a bit on my personal story. Experiencing healthcare from different geographies.

So I lived in Tanzania for the most part of my life and I, I thought I had pretty good healthcare, to be honest. But then I relocated and moved to Germany and I experienced healthcare as a woman very differently.

But also apart from my personal experience in healthcare, I was also building software and solutions in the digital health space also for women.

And I learned a new perspective of how female health, but also how healthcare in general is expressed experienced very differently by women in different geographies.

And as a woman who went through that and is building solutions for women is working in the innovation space, I want to tell that story and share how that experience looks like.

Claire Murigande

00:07:28

So you have really a unique perspective on that.

Mariatheresa Kadushi

00:07:31

I do with a lot of aha moments I have had, yeah, quite a few.

Claire Murigande

00:07:37

Can you share some of them?

Mariatheresa Kadushi

00:07:38

For example, when I went to the, so I was coming back and forth between Germany and Tanzania before fully moving to Germany and I went to a doctor and I had a service that was not covered by the insurance and he didn't ask me to pay for it. He said, I'll send you an invoice. And I looked at my fiancé at that time, my husband now, and I said, what?

What does that mean? How?

But we're already done at the hospital? And he said, yeah, he has the address, he'll send us an invoice, we don't have to pay anything.

And I was true. That was the first time I've had care anywhere where it's not covered by insurance. And I didn't have to pay in cash.

But also I had only experienced healthcare in Tanzania where if I did not have cash, I would not have the care at the first place where I have to pay up front.

So moments like that or learning that my insurance also covers prevention, preventive health, things like so primary prevention, like education itself, sharing information.

I have a hotline where I can call, I receive, I don't know, flyers, information in different times, but also secondary health care where insurance also cover checkups, they cover vaccinations that I need and so forth.

And I think this is the fact that every year I go to my gynecologist, I don't have to pay for anything. I get checked for cervical cancer, for breast cancer, and so forth.

This was a first, and I experienced it when I was nearly 30. So it was also another aha moment.

And I think I still have a continuation of some aha moments every now and then that I experience. And also when I go back to Tanzania where I'm like, oh, I forgot that it works like this, so this is not covered, or things are different. So, yeah.

Claire Murigande

00:09:33

You know, we talk about women's health a lot lately. When I say lately, I probably think the last couple of years or so, it's really coming very much at the forefront.

And from your perspective, from someone who's working in the field, do you think this is just like a hype or things are really starting to change?

Mariatheresa Kadushi

00:09:53

I think things are starting to change. I think now we live in the age of information.

We also have the first generation of which women who have lived in the digital era.

So young women who Gen Z's who were born in the early 2000s to late 2000s, who are now adult women. And I think because of all the information that we have, there's a realization that women's health is less researched.

And I mean, I think we knew this before, but now more, especially younger women are more vocal about it. They talk about it, they share more.

But also we have another wave of very influential women who are now aging and they're experiencing menopause and they're experiencing perimenopause. And they're also realizing that even as an influential, popular, rich woman, this is still a problem that you have just because you're a woman.

So I think we hear different voices of women who are in menopause, but also younger women who are questioning why.

Why is there less financing in women's health?

Why is there less financing and research for women's health?

Why are there medical conditions that affect women that take so long to diagnose, like endometriosis?

And I think now the conversation is quite active and a lot of narratives are changing.

And I think it's an interesting time to build for women, to build or to work in femtech because of all these changes.

Claire Murigande

00:11:29

And so with that in mind, what are your expectations for the HIMSS conference?

Mariatheresa Kadushi

00:11:34

To be honest, I don't have a lot of expectations going to congresses and conferences, but this being specific in healthcare and innovation, I am looking forward to learning more about what especially women are doing in the space of innovation in healthcare, but also seeing if there are new inventions, new innovations, and also hearing conversations about healthcare, also healthcare for women, but also hopefully seeing investors who are investing in women and also more projects and work that is directed towards women's health or femtech.

Claire Murigande

00:12:14

Because I think investment and funding still remains the main challenge, right?

Mariatheresa Kadushi

00:12:19

It's needed because we cannot have a conversation about changing perspectives or changing access of care without also investing in women, especially women who are working in the space.

And right now what data is showing us regarding the percentage of women or female founded companies or women businesses that receive funding is not very promising. So there is a need for change.

I believe there's a need for change when it comes to investment.

Claire Murigande

00:12:50

And do you think what is being done today is enough to initiate that change or do we still have to do more? And what would that more be?

Mariatheresa Kadushi

00:12:59

No, I think it's not enough. I think there's a need for more. But also more means more women who are who are financially able and capable to invest in women.

I was very lucky in our in Mobile Afya that we had female investors. And now we are a team of also only women. We're a team of five women from four different countries who are looking for investment and the likelihood of us getting that investment is very narrow.

But I think more women should invest in women.

But also I think as we're working now with SheHer to reduce the bias when it comes to healthcare, we also have to reduce bias when it comes to female funded companies and businesses.

And I think that also comes from us women building solutions, but also taking up space and having these conversations, but also questioning and challenging investors VCs on how they finance their businesses and if there is not discrimination, but if there's bias when it comes to investment in women versus men.

So I think more conversation and also more money to women. It's as simple as that.

Claire Murigande

00:14:11

Thank you very much Mariatheresa.

Mariatheresa Kadushi

00:14:13

Yeah, very happy to be here.

Claire Murigande

00:14:15

Thank you.

Claire Murigande

00:14:19

If you wish to learn more about the SheHer app, have a look at their website at www.sheher.app.

You can also find information about mobile Afya online at www.mobileafya.com afya is spelled A F Y A. All the links are available in the episode Show Notes.

Thank you so much for tuning in today. I appreciate you taking the time.

Join me again in a couple of days for the second episode featuring another speaker of the Women's Health Track session titled "Intersectional Innovation: Addressing Health Disparities". I will speak to Carolina Coimbra, a doula and activist for pregnancy and childbirth rights who worked as an advisor in the Portuguese Parliament.

Until then, take care of yourselves. Stay well and stay inspired.