A case study on integrating a diagnostic medical device into the health care system of Sierra Leone

Ukweli Test Strips is a point-of-care medical technology that screens for Urinary Tract Infections (UTIs) and Preeclampsia. Such screening and diagnostic tools can be revolutionary in saving lives of mothers and their children in low and middle income countries (LMICs) because of their ability to be dispersed at the community level, allowing for easier access to the device and for the patient to gain such access at a local clinic. These devices therefore have the potential to provide screening or diagnosis earlier on in the disease or infection's life cycle for better management to ultimately to save lives. Though these devices have the potential to be significant in its affordability, accessibility and specificity, several challenges persist in attempts to integrate such a product into the health care system of LMICs. This paper studies the ways in which Ukweli Test Strips are being integrated into the health care system in Sierra Leone in order to reduce the country's maternal mortality rate, which is the highest in the world [7]. Through key partnerships, an understanding of the system, trusted in-country employees and end-to-end operations that reach the target customer, Ukweli Test Strips is prepared to achieve better health outcomes. The integration of low-cost screening and diagnostic tools into such complex hierarchical primary and pre-primary health care systems has the unique ability to achieve these goals, chief among them saving lives, while working within the system established in LMICs.