Healthwire raises $3.3 million to fuel its “Quality Healthcare for all” vision

ISLAMABAD, DEC 30: Healthwire, a health-tech startup and operator of one of the largest horizontally integrated ecosystem of healthcare service providers in Pakistan, has closed $3.3 Million in funding. The round drew participation from 47 Ventures, Habib Bank Limited, Dilsons Private Limited and angel investors from Silicon Valley.  

Healthwire was founded by Hamza Iqbal, a LUMS graduate, with a vision to make access to quality healthcare accessible and affordable for every citizen of Pakistan. Since its inception, Healthwire has been singularly focused on digitizing the operations of doctors, clinics, hospitals, labs and pharmacies and now boasts the largest and most widely integrated platform of thousands of health care service providers in over 60 cities of Pakistan.

In a statement, co-founder and CTO of Healthwire, Muhammad Nabeel said “The patient-doctor interaction is the point where the whole healthcare ecosystem converges. By having this interaction on our health-tech platform, we can ensure that quality healthcare is accessible to patients in the remotest areas of the country. The economies of scale of the tech platform allow us to ensure that this access is affordable and inclusive. 

Khurram Zafar, Managing Director of 47 Ventures, and a seed investor in Healthwire said, "We are excited to be doubling down on one of the stars in our portfolio. The growth and momentum that Healthwire has built even during the tough COVID period is a testament to the strength and resilience of the team. It is destined to become the health tech leader of Pakistan." 

Sagheer Mufti, COO at HBL, commenting on the occasion said: “HBL is excited to invest in Healthwire, as it is an integrated healthcare digital platform. It will ease the customer journey and improve quality of healthcare, particularly multiple healthcare providers. Through provision of embedded banking services, to providers like hospitals, clinics, labs, health insurance providers and pharmacies will be able to serve, patients more effectively. HBL and Healthwire partnership seeks to expand access to quality and convenient healthcare in Pakistan. With the Healthwire investment. and collaboration, digital financial inclusion will be widened, reaffirming HBL's commitment to be a technology company with a banking license.”

Healthwire, building upon its strong presence in the healthcare service provider ecosystem, has now deployed a web and mobile application for patients to connect with those service providers. The platform is already connecting over 10,000 patients with doctors every single day.  The startup intends to use the funding to further fuel its growth and become the healthcare super app of Pakistan.

Hassan Sheikh, Director at Dilsons Private Limited while commenting on their investment in Healthwire said: “Dilsons strategy to invest in Digital Healthcare fits well with integrated solution provider Healthwire. This gives us an opportunity to be part of Digital Health ecosystem which will shape the future of health tech. This partnership will enable us to be a part of Pakistan’s leading digital healthcare platform for disease management with strong capabilities and eventually leading to better healthcare outcomes for patients.”

---------------------------------------------------

Japan announces US$ 4.35 million grant to support Polio Programme in Pakistan

 

ISLAMABAD, DEC 13: The Government of Japan has announced a US$ 4.35 million grant to procure essential oral polio vaccines as part of its continued support to Pakistan for its polio eradication efforts.  

This latest grant will be utilized for the procurement of 24 million oral doses of vaccines. It will allow the programme to reach around 21 million children under five years old with focus on the high-risk districts with persistent poliovirus transmission. The vaccines will be used during vaccination drives planned in 2022.

According the National Action Plan (NEAP) 2021-2023, the Polio Porgramme’s strategic goal is to permanently interrupt all poliovirus transmission in Pakistan by the end of 2023.

The notes of the grant were signed and exchanged between the Government of Japan and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the grant agreement was signed and exchanged between Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and UNICEF.

"The Polio eradication efforts made substantive progress this year by limiting the virus circulation resulted significant decrease of Polio cases despite challenges posed by COVID-19. The programme is confident to permanently interrupt all types of polioviruses by the end of 2023," said Dr. Shahzad Baig, National Coordinator of the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme.

Appreciating the support of the Government of Japan, Dr Shahzad said, "We are grateful to the people and the Government of Japan for their unwavering support for the children of Pakistan, the new funding will enable us to reach every child with the essential polio vaccine."

WADA Mitsuhiro, Ambassador of Japan, appreciated the significant progress made this year in controlling the spread of poliovirus, saying that “we are now only one step away from the goal, polio-free Pakistan.”

He reiterated his support to the initiative for eradicating all types of poliovirus by the end of 2023 and noted that “Japan has provided assistance in maternal and child health, polio eradication, and routine immunization in Pakistan for decades and will continue its support that will directly benefit vulnerable people.”

"We are glad to witness collaborative effort between Polio program and Expanded Program on Immunization, represented by recently conducted Measles Rubella and Polio campaign. We are also honored that numerous Polio program experiences are utilized to fight against COVID-19, such as 1166 helpline, PCR test capacity at Polio Laboratory and vaccinators’ trainings by JICA Project.

We have a strong desire to witness the all types of polio virus interruption by the end of 2023 as suggested by Government of Pakistan. We appreciate the unwavering leadership of Government of Pakistan, with the highest respect to the frontline health workers.," said Shigeki Furuta, Chief Representative, JICA.

"Pakistan has achieved tremendous success against interrupting Polio virus this year. From 84 reported polio cases in year 2020, the incidence has come down to one case in the last eleven months," said Aida Girma, UNICEF Representative in Pakistan, highlighting the consistent efforts of the Government of Pakistan and partners.

"The last mile towards eradication, however, will be tough and requires continues support from the partners like Government of Japan to achieve a polio-free status," said Aida while acknowledging the support of the people and Government of Japan. 

The new funding is part of the continuous support of the Japan Government in the Polio Eradication programme since 1996. To date, the grant and loan contribution from the Government of Japan has amounted to approx. US$ 230.497 million dollars to support the Polio programme in Pakistan through UNICEF. 

----------------------------------------

Omicron co-discoverer: Variant precursors around for very long time

 

Cape Town, DEC 5: Precursors of the recently discovered Omicron coronavirus variant are likely to have existed for a very long time, according to their co-discoverer, who hails from Germany.

“According to current knowledge, an early form of Omicron evolved as a separate virus type even before Alpha and Delta emerged,” Wolfgang Preiser of Stellenbosch University near Cape Town told dpa. He is a member of the research consortium that discovered the variant.

This type of virus then probably evolved over many months without attracting attention, Preiser said. “The question is: Why did Omicron remain hidden for so long and only now get going? Were one or two mutations still missing to be able to spread quickly?”

The oldest known evidence of the variant so far dates from the first half of November.

The variant, which was first discovered in South Africa and Botswana, has a particularly large number of mutations. Among other things, they affect the spike protein through which the viruses dock onto human cells.

In addition, there are mutations near the so-called furin cleavage site, a region that plays a role in the uptake of the virus into human cells.

In Germany, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI) disease control body, four cases of the Omicron variant had been confirmed by genome sequencing by Wednesday – all of them travellers returning from South Africa. The variant is suspected in eight other cases in Germany. Experts, however, assume that there are already more cases.

According to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC), Omicron could be the dominant variant in Europe within a few months.

The EU health authority recently pointed out that while there are still a number of uncertainties regarding transmissibility, the severity of an infection and possible impact on immune defences, preliminary data suggests that the disease is already present in Europe.

However, preliminary data indicated that Omicron had a clear advantage over the Delta variant.

The WHO classifies Omicron as “of concern.”

--------------------------------------

Courtesy Anews

-----------------

WHO: Omicron strain identified in 38 countries

 

Geneva, DEC 3: “The Omicron strain has been identified in 38 countries, but delta remains the dominant variant of COVID-19.”

The head of the technical group of the WHO Emergency Diseases Unit, Maria Van Kerkhove.

“Omicron has so far been identified in 38 countries in all six WHO regions, with the main increase in infections in Africa. But the delta variant remains dominant in the world,” Maria Van Kerkhove said speaking during an online session, answering questions about the coronavirus situation.

---------------------------------------

Courtesy report.az

-----------------

WHO: Asia-Pacific should brace for Covid-19 surge due to Omicron

 

With more gatherings and an increase in people’s movements during the holiday season, people need to stay vigilant, said Takeshi Kasai, WHO regional director for the Western Pacific.

Geneva, DEC 3: Asia-Pacific countries must brace for a new surge in the number of Covid-19 cases due to the Omicron variant, which emerged ahead of the Christmas holidays, the World Health Organization (WHO) said Friday.

With more gatherings and an increase in people’s movements during the holiday season, people need to stay vigilant, said Takeshi Kasai, WHO regional director for the Western Pacific.

Initial data showed that Omicron, first detected in South Africa and recently declared a variant of concern, may be more transmissible than other coronavirus variants, Kasai said.

“Border control can delay the virus coming in and buy time, but every country and every community must prepare for new surges in cases,” he told an online press briefing from the regional headquarters in Manila.

“The positive news in all this is that none of the information we have currently about Omicron suggests we need to change the direction of our response,” he added.

Kasai urged countries to use their experience in dealing with the Delta variant as a guide on “how to cope with future surges in a more sustainable way.”

He stressed the need for countries to vaccinate more people, boost their health care capacities to ensure that hospitals are available for severe cases, and strengthen surveillance to detect cases in preparation for a surge.

People must also continue implementing public health and safety measures such as mask-wearing and physical distancing which are known to be effective in stopping the spread of the virus.

“We can adapt, so that Covid-19 has less impact on our lives in 2022, and we can start to regain – and hopefully retain – a sense of normality,” Kasai said.

------------------------------------------

Courtesy Anews

-----------------