ANAIRYS

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ANAIRYS

AngolaAngola
Organization type: 
nonprofit/ngo/citizen sector
Project Stage:
Idea
Budget: 
< $1,000
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Project Summary
Elevator Pitch

Concise Summary: Help us pitch this solution! Provide an explanation within 3-4 short sentences.

ANAIRYS is a Health Mutual Solidarity fund. A prepaid micro health insurance system to enable better health security in cost efficient way via mobile phones.

About Project

Problem: What problem is this project trying to address?

Nine out of ten people in Sub-Sahara Africa therefore do not have any access to health or accident insurance. They have to pay tremendously high fees for treatment, medical care and hospitalisation out of pocket. Especially those people living below the poverty line (more than 40% in Sub-Saharan Africa) have to take out loans, dissolve their savings or sell essential resources to pay for their treatment. Therefore, many are not in the position to make use of the required services at all. In fact, many people fall into poverty due to illness and treatment costs. ( www.medicalnewstoday.com)

Solution: What is the proposed solution? Please be specific!

ANAIRYS is a innovative health system strategy that will enable better health security in cost efficient way via mobile phones.
Impact: How does it Work

Example: Walk us through a specific example(s) of how this solution makes a difference; include its primary activities.

To have an adequate health insurance in Sub-Saharan Africa we need subsidies right? But what if instead of waiting for the government subsidies, the subsidies came from the pocket of the people itself? I know what you are thinking: It is impossible. The African mobile market exceeded half a billion subscribers during the third quarter of 2010. So investing in their own health through solidarity is possible. How? By creating a health fund that will work together with a mobile company. So each time a subscriber buys a prepaid refill card to refill the minutes on his mobile phone 5 % of the total cost will automatically be saved in the health fund, meaning that the subscriber is contributing to not only his health insurance but also those from other people.

Impact: What is the impact of the work to date? Also describe the projected future impact for the coming years.

This is only the idea phase. The goal is to insure the uninsured people in Sub-Saharan Africa at the base of the pyramid and those are the majority of the population. But the more the subscribers the more the profit and with more than 280 million subscribers in Africa this will be possible.To be able to achieve it I will need a software application with a payment sytem available in most countries in Africa in partnership with the health fund safe for the people and in connection with most hospitals and health services.For example in Kenya there are 5,10,20,50 and 100 KES pre-paid cards. If a subscriber loads a 50 KES pre-paid card it means that 2,5 KES will be saved into the health fund. So suppose that you have 1000 members and that those 1000 member buy at least 2 50 KES pre-paid cards a month. This means that there will be saved at least 5000 KES monthly into the health fund = 500 $, which means that 100$ /monthly can be used to pay the costs of the insurance = profitable treshold. The goal is to reduce the out of pocket health care expenditure of households especially for the pooret and increase prepaid health insurance availability amongst those who are unemployed to decrease the mortality in Africa.
Sustainability

Marketplace: Who else is addressing the problem outlined here? How does the proposed project differ from these approaches?

Well, to be honest right now we do not have competitors in Angola! Because the idea is so innovative and there are not any other organizations who do offer health insurance for a lower price. There are only high price private companies who offer health insurance for those who can afford it!
Team

Founding Story

When a member of my family died because she was treated very late and the reason she went into the hospital so late was because she was not insured. She died and this when I started to think about ideas on how poor people in Africa can have health insurance even without a job and a bank account.
Organization Name

ANAIRYS

About You
About You
First Name

Maria

Last Name

Pedro

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Innovation
Explain what the "innovation" is about, e.g., is it the idea and/or the model you use to accomplish the idea, or your understanding of the target population, etc.?

ANAYRIS is a startup still in the idea fase, ANAYRIS is actually a health Mutual Solidarity Fund - to be more specific; a prepaid micro health insurance system via mobile phones . The idea is to insure the uninsured people, most of the times those are also the unemployed ones. A person will only need to have a mobile phone and the person can be automatically a member of the fund.

Describe how your innovation model is distinct from any other organization in your field?

In Africa there are many mutual health associations , many work together with health care services. Eeach member has to contribute by paying a low fee, but some people don't even have that. By using ANAIRYS,, the members will not have to think about where to get the money to participate, once they have a mobile phone and they buy refill cards then they are automatically members. The health fund will cover for the treatment of the ones who participate and put money into the health fund. How? The person has to give his mobile number to the health fund and accepts that each time he buys a prepaid refill card to refill the minutes on his mobile phone 5% will be automatically saved into the health fund. For every 5% , 1% will be the cost the subscriber is paying to be insured.

What type of operating environment and internal organizational factors make your innovation successful?

Many Africans have a hard time investing in their health, they think that putting money aside for health insurance is a waist of time especially when they have a family to feed and other things which they think are more important. So I decided to combine an every day gesture ( refill the card of your mobile phone ) with health insurance. Refilling is something Africans do almost every day, it is automatic, so if we take advantage of that and use it to help them save for their health this will help them a lot and they will not even notice that they are giving money away to insure their health so that it won't feel as a waste of time. This is a win-win situation. This very small amount can save their lives.

How do you make sure you constantly innovate in light of (potential) external challenges, or your growth plan?

First of all we will need investment from investors, second of all we need to work together in partnership with a mobile phone company. This will be our biggest challenge: find a national mobile phone company who will be willing to work with us.

Organization Country

, LUA

Business Model
The systemic challenge you are trying to overcome (select one)

Bring accessible healthcare to communities in emerging markets

Health area (target market) where the need is [select only one]

Other specialty care

Categories along the health continuum you are covering [select all that apply]

Prevention, Long-term care.

Stage that best applies to your solution [select only one]

Idea (poised to launch)

Core strategies of your business model [select all that apply]

New financing strategies for health.

If other, specify here:
Most relevant tools you are using to implement the strategies outlined above [select only two]

Technology.

If other, specify here:
What is your value proposition?

By having a mobile company that will be able to sell refill cards were 5 % of the total price will automatically be deduct and saved into the health fund when the subscriber will refill the minutes on his mobile phone. This is based on solidarity, any subscriber is free to participate but the health fund will only cover the costs and pay for the treatments of those who are sick. The mobile company will also send preventive care sms to the participants in order to decrease the number of people who can be potentially sick.

Who is your customer(s)?

About two-thirs of people in poor countries have access to mobile phones, in Sub-Sahara more people have mobile phones than bank accounts. 53% of those living in rural areas have mobile phones and especially those people are the ones who do not have health insurance while they desperately need it. My customers are the poor people living in Sub-Saharan countries, especially the ones living in rural areas withouth any health insurance.

What approaches to you use to reach your customers?

By doing a great campaign about this via sms and advertising, a lot of people can be reached and the number of participants can only be enormous due to the large number of mobile phone users in Sub-Saharan Africa and the high amount they have to pay for treatment out of their own pockets.

What are your primary activities?

ANAIRYS is enabling you to save for a health insurance without you even noticing it. It will happen automatically every single time you refill your phone card. You won't have to move or to call somewhere, once you refill the minutes it's done! You only have to give your number to the mobile company and buy there your refill cards!

What other challenges - individual, organizational, or environmental – are you currently facing or might hinder future success of your business, and how do you plan to overcome those?

Right now first and foremost we need the collaboration of a local major phone company in Angola and second of all we need funding!

Briefly describe your growth strategy going forward

By 2017 we would like to reach more countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa.

What dimensions for growth are you currently targeting for your innovation [select all that apply]

New market(s)/country(ies).

What makes your business "ready" for growth?

Because mobile phones have never been used to solve financial or health problems as much as now and the mobile phone users in Africa are up by 44%, it is the highest proportion of mobile phones in the world and people of Sub-Saharan Africa are also one of the people who need affordable healtcare the most due to poverty.

What are your key growth objectives?
Organization's Country of Operation

, LUA

Social Impact
What methods for quantification of social impact are you applying (if at all)?

We will be measuring how many persons were insured before and after the existence of our organization. We will also measure if healthcare is more affordable now for poor people with ANAIRYS.

Could your solution work in other geographies or regions? If so, where?

Yes, Mobile phones are used worldwide and since all you need is to have a mobile phone and buy refill cards from time to time or have a subscrition then it is feasible worldwide.

What is your projected impact over the next 1-3 years?

I would like to reach over 20 million users in Sub-Saharan Africa in the following years.

Sustainability
Elaborate on your current financing strategy
Share of revenue generation in total income of organization (in percent)
Direct sales to patients or other beneficiaries (in percent)

1%

Of the possible sources of these sales listed below, check all that apply to your current strategy

Friends and family.

Licensing fees, e.g., for technology/franchise model (in percent)
Of the possible sources of these licensing opportunities listed below, check all that apply to your current strategy

Others.

Service contract with organizations, e.g., government, NGOs (in percent)
Of the possible sources of the service contracts listed below, check all that apply to your current strategy

Others.

Explain your revenue generation strategy in more detail

1% of each subscriber each time he/she refill the minutes on the mobile phone.

Share of philanthropy in total income of organization (in percent)
Philanthrophy strategies you are using

Diversified strategy.

Explain your philanthropic approach in more detail
Expand on your selections; explain how you will sustain funding over the next 1-3 years.
Years in Operation

Idea phase

Has the organization received awards or honors? Please tell us about them

No