New app set to put healthcare in the hands of children

Dr Rufaro Nyamuda, recipient of the Volkswagen Touareg Sabbatical, has created an app for children to essentially look after themselves during a medical emergency. At the end of last year, Volkswagen South Africa started the initiative, encouraging South Africans to submit their ideas for a three-month sabbatical.

According to brand manager Loryn Symons, much like Nyamuda’s idea, there was an estimated 1 300 entries that each wanted to help an individual or community of people. “Rufaro’s idea had the potential to make a significant impact in South Africa,” Loryn said.

Just over 18 months prior to entering the competition, Nyamuda began working on a health care platform that would essentially assist parents and schools to manage the health and safety of their learners and staff. “I would regularly see parents come into the emergency department with their children not knowing what to do. Something serious may have happened and they would feel this serious amount of guilt. It just made me realise that we spend all this time educating adults on how to keep children safe but we don’t educate children,” Nyamuda said.

Thus the idea for Keep Safe was born. The app is now designed to teach parents and schools but also children how to keep themselves and others safe. During the research process, Nyamuda realised that many of the schools in the country have great need for this programme.

According to Nyamuda, these days more children present medical conditions such as allergic reactions, diabetes or asthma but the school’s approach has not changed. “In the beginning of the year, schools will only send two staff members for training and parents will only fill out this one health form that is stored in a secretary’s office somewhere,” she said.

Nyamuda’s three-month journey was spent travelling across the country visiting different provinces and communities to learn more about children’s health. “I wanted to travel across the country, meet as many parents, schools and children to learn how to best approach this. The three-month sabbatical was probably the best thing that has happening to me.”

Learners as young as five years old will be able to play and learn from the app. By the time the child reaches the age of 13, all of the levels on the app would have been completed making the child first aid certified. “This is something that they can take with them and essentially include on their CV.”

Keep Safe is set to go under a piloting period where it will be tested in a select number of schools in different environments and communities. “If this can change the way we do things, this can change the world,” Nyamuda smiled proudly.

Related articles:

https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/233689/programme-aims-improve-womens-health/

https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/212410/dont-suffer-alone-help-available-mental-health-joburg/