1Dokita, a Nigerian health startup that leverages technology to provide diagnostic and medical services to citizens in different packages, irrespective of class and status has started its outreach to provide free medical screening in different communities in Lagos State.
Residents of Bariga community in Lagos were first beneficiaries of the services, conducted in partnership with Oloja Primary Healthcare Centre.
The team of medical professionals said the outreach was in line with 1Dokita.ng’s mission to make health services more accessible to all Nigerians.
Speaking before the health outreach, Daniel Folukoya, a doctor who is the CEO and founder of 1Dokita, defined the mission which aims at impacting the citizens of Nigeria and Africa as a whole, saying; “Our mission at 1Dokita is to create an easy way for all of us to access quality healthcare.
“We believe that by providing a unified health services gateway, healthcare can be more safely, reliably and affordably accessed. This will translate to more lives saved, more evidence-based practice and consequently, a reduction in quackery and self-medication. Our vision is to improve health-seeking behaviour by making it easier for people to get health advice prophylactically or early on in the disease process before the cost of treatment becomes unbearable,” Folukoya said.
According to him, Nigerians need to understand the importance of maintaining health.
“We take this mission very seriously hence we spend significant resources on education, coaching and counselling. We hope outreaches like this will go some extent towards achieving universal health coverage particularly for the un-insured who lack the finance to do that,” Folukoya added.
Also speaking, Olawale Ogunsaya, the sales lead, stated that due to the mass turnout and engagement, 1Dokita will continue to engage healthcare stakeholders and providers to partner with for the delivery of these outreaches.
He envisions that the outreaches will happen at least twice a month across different locations in Lagos with views to expand across Nigeria.
“Following each medical assessment, performed in Bariga, if anyone has unfavourable results, they would be referred a local healthcare provider through our registry service for proper treatment.1Dokita has been in existence from 2016 but started officially in October 2017. Today, it has over 1000 doctors listed on the platform, all that is required is to download the 1Dokita App and get access to the 1Dokita network,” Ogunsaya said.
Jumoke Akiyode Lawanson
