Biospectal, Amref Health Africa Partner on Blood Pressure Management Access

Biospectal SA and Amref Health Africa have unveiled a mobile remote patient monitoring (MRPM) hypertension management pilot program in Kibera (Nairobi), Kenya, the largest informal settlement in Africa. The first-of-its-kind partnership will enable Biospectal to build upon the four independent World Health Organization validation studies it currently has in progress in South Africa, Tanzania, Bangladesh, and Indonesia, and to scale the impact of  Biospectal’s OptiBP smartphone-based, blood pressure solution across Africa.
 
“Biospectal’s remote monitoring software puts easy, accurate and intelligent blood pressure monitoring at the literal fingertips of people around the world. We are thrilled to be working with Amref, whose reach amplifies our ability to pursue our mission to help solve the global hypertension epidemic,” Biospectal CEO/Co-Founder Eliott Jones said. “Amref’s expertise combined with Biospectal’s technology will enable us to make a huge stride in increasing access to hypertension care.”
 
Biospectal OptiBP launched in public beta for Android in January 2021 and in public beta for iOS in January 2022. Biospectal’s OptiBP medical-grade mobile app uses a smartphone camera’s optical lens to measure and record a user’s blood pressure via their fingertip. With the ease and availability of Biospectal OptiBP, anyone in the world with a smartphone can turn their device into a connected, smart, clinical-grade monitor in the time it takes to download and install an app. 
 
Dubbed the “silent killer,” only one in five people worldwide afflicted with hypertension has the disease under control. According to the WHO’s Noncommunicable Diseases Country Profiles, high blood pressure affects 20% of the Kenyan population. Informal settlements present a prime location for an MRPM pilot focusing on making hypertension monitoring and management more accessible. The United Nations estimates that 47.5 million people, about 60% of the urban population, live in informal settlements. Kenya alone is home to 1400+ informal settlements, making up over 50% of the urban population. Kibera, is the largest informal settlement in Kenya and the largest in Africa.
 
“Digital transformation in health care is rapidly reaching a tipping point in providing increased access in high income settings, but technologies like Biospectal’s OptiBP blood pressure monitoring platform unlock that promise of health access for low income countries, specifically here in Kibera,” added Peter Waiganjo, Head of Venture Developments and Partnerships at Amref Health Africa, “Amref has made a commitment to work in line with the WHO Global NCD Action Plan and Kenya’s Ministry of Health National Strategy for the prevention and Control of NCDs, and this partnership is a step towards empowering communities, integrating health services, and implementing a multi-sector policy for change.”
 
Biospectal SA is a remote monitoring and biosensing software company focused on the worldwide democratization of clinical monitoring. The firm’s OptiBP smartphone application and data platform remove the traditional blood pressure cuff barrier and enables frequent and intelligent blood pressure tracking via a fingertip applied to a smartphone camera lens. By optically measuring blood flow through the skin, our proprietary algorithm turns light information into blood pressure values. Founded July 2017, Biospectal is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, with an additional office in Silicon Valley. Biospectal’s clinically validated, patented technology was developed in collaboration with the Swiss Center for Electronics and Microtechnology and represents more than 10 years of non-invasive optical biosensing R&D. 
 
Amref Health Africa is the largest Africa-based healthcare nonprofit, serving millions of people every year. Amref Health Africa began on the continent as the Flying Doctors, bringing surgical services to remote communities using light aircraft. Its priorities have since expanded to strengthen health systems and train African health workers to respond to the continent’s most critical health challenges. Amref Health Africa, is headquartered in Nairobi Kenya with offices in 35 countries in sub-Saharan Africa.