Healthcare is a fundamental human need, and the absence of adequate healthcare infrastructure presents a major barrier to development. Governments around the world understand this, which is why they allocate significant resources to strengthen their healthcare sectors. However, many nations fall short of meeting these needs— either due to insufficient funding or mismanagement of available resources. This chronic underinvestment and inefficiency have stalled global progress towards the goal of universal health coverage by 2030.
WHO 2030 universal health coverage goal and the grim situation in Africa and Asia
The World Health Organisation (WHO) highlighted this growing crisis in an October 2023 report, stating: “The world is off track to make significant progress towards universal health coverage (Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target 3.8) by 2030. Improvements to health services coverage have stagnated since 2015, and the proportion of the population that faced catastrophic levels of out-of-pocket health spending increased continuously since 2000.
In Africa, for example, more than half of the population lack access to essential healthcare services. The continent, which bears 23% of the world’s disease burden, receives only 1% of global health spending. This disparity has resulted in an ever-widening healthcare gap. In Asia, the situation is similarly grim, with health insurance coverage ranging from just 1% in Afghanistan to 98% in Japan, as reported by Lancet.com.
The combination of extreme poverty and inadequate health infrastructure makes essential healthcare services out of reach for millions, especially for vulnerable populations such as impoverished children and young adults whose families cannot afford life-saving treatment. This systemic lack of access is contributing to a tragic loss of life, with many of these deaths being entirely preventable. The failure to address these healthcare gaps not only undermines public health but also threatens long-term social and economic progress worldwide.
Enter Helpster charity
Helpster is a tech-driven nonprofit facilitating healthcare access in underserved regions across Africa and Asia. It bridges the gap in healthcare access through technology by connecting children in need of vital medicare to donors. Helpster receives and validates cases from its free medical outreaches to poor communities, network of trusted local volunteers, NGOs, parents and hospitals. It checks and verifies the cases based on poverty level, urgency and treatment plan. Cases that satisfy the admission criteria are uploaded on its website and app, ensuring only life-changing cases from poor families, and the assessment value below 1,500 USD are accepted. As an exception, it can accept cases of up to 3,000 USD. When people donate, the money goes directly to local hospitals for the approved cases on the app and website; the donors can track to see the impact of their donation real-time.
Financial documents and reports for each case are available on the mobile app. Hundred percent of the donations go directly to the verified hospitals to for verified cases. About 5-7 percent caters to transaction charges, bank commissions and currency exchange losses.
Reducing child mortality in underserved communities
Based on numerous cases received by the charity, the common illnesses suffered by indigent children in Asia and Africa are pneumonia, kidney/liver infections, hernia, urinary tract infection, respiratory tract infection, acute appendicitis, severe malaria, typhoid, etc.
Helpsters case admission data for Nigeria reveals five common illnesses suffered by the children: malaria(69 cases), enteric fever/typhoid(53 cases), hernia(39 cases), hydrocele(36 cases) and urinary tract infection(14 cases). The treatment cost for malaria in Nigeria is below 60 USD while hernia is at least 89 USD.
For Kenya, the five common illnesses are severe malaria with gastroenteritis or anaemia(246 cases), severe pneumonia(145 cases), gastroenteritis (23 cases), sickle cell disease(22 cases) and hernia(10 cases). The average treatment costs for malaria and severe pneumonia in Kenya are 130 USD and 100 USD respectively. These figures are based on Helpsters case management records.
It’s important to add that malaria, according to a 2023 WHO report, accounts for a high child mortality in Africa: “Globally in 2022, there were an estimated 249 million malaria cases and 608 000 malaria deaths in 85 countries; the WHO African Region carries a disproportionately high share of the global malaria burden; in 2022, the Region was home to 94% of malaria cases (233 million) and 95% (580 000) of malaria deaths; children under 5 accounted for about 80% of all malaria deaths in the Region”. These deaths were largely a result of financial constraints- lack of funds to access vital medicare. Children shouldn’t have to die from common treatable ailments.
In Asia, specifically Bangladesh, Helpsters case admission data lists the five common health issues to be tonsillitis(27 cases), pneumonia(23 cases), baby delivery complications- cesarean section(11), urinary tract infection(4) and hypospadias(2). The average treatment cost for tonsillitis is 300 USD.
Also, as seen above, a common ailment in Africa and Asia is pneumonia. It is the single largest infectious cause of child mortality globally. The WHO reported in November 2022 that “pneumonia killed 740,180 children under the age of 5 in 2019, accounting for 14% of all deaths of children under 5 years old but 22% of all deaths in children aged 1 to 5 years. Pneumonia affects children and families everywhere, but deaths are highest in southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa”. In Bangladesh and Kenya, it costs an average of 220 USD and 100 USD respectively, to treat severe pneumonia.
Helpster’s mission is to ensure no child dies or suffers due to lack of financial means to access critical healthcare. The nonprofit believes that where a child is born should not determine whether they live or die. Being economically disadvantaged should never stop a child from getting the medicare they need. In less than two years, over 700 children have been saved through healthcare funding and over 5000 lives impacted through its regular free medical outreaches.
Established in 2023, Helpster has created an efficient approach to reduce child mortality. With an app and a website, the tech charity startup is restoring the hopes of vulnerable populations in Africa and Asia. To save a child, you can make a donation on the Helpster website or its app.
Kate Lysykh
Kate Lysykh is the Chief Executive Officer of Helpster Charity US Inc, a tech charity startup easing healthcare access in underserved regions across Africa and Asia.
