#access afya

Access Afya is a finalist for the William James Foundation 2013 Business Plan Competition in the Venture Phase Category . Based in Nairobi Kenya, Access Afya is bringing quality affordable healthcare to the residents of the Mukuru slum through their clinic. Melissa Menke, Access Afya’s founder, is extremely passionate about Access Afya’s ability to promote systemic change and healthy lifestyles in the Nairobi area and beyond.

Is Access Afya in business?

We are up and running. The first Access Afya clinic opened December 2012. Since opening our doors we've seen almost 500 patients, and this number has been growing steadily each month.

How many people do you employ?

There are five full-time staff including myself. We also have four Kenyan interns.

Where are you located?

We are located in Nairobi Kenya.

Who are your customers?

Our customers are residents of the Mukuru slums in Nairobi. This market does not currently have access to reliable and safe health care services, medication, and wellness products.

What are you annual Revenues?

The pilot clinic generated approximately $1,400 in revenue between December 2012- April 2013.

What problem are you trying to solve?

There are no quality, private healthcare providers serving the bottom of the pyramid in Nairobi. The government is there, but their facilities are overburdened, crowded, and frequently run out of medication and supplies. Informal chemists sell medication in the slums, but are more focused on sales than wellness. They also have weak supply chains because they buy from smaller, less reliable distributors. There result of this inequity in access to care is higher rates of infectious disease, maternal mortality, and under five mortality for poor populations.

Access Afya provides a safe, reliable alternative to this system. We empower people to make healthy life choices, care for their families, and take ownership of their health.

How did you become interested in that problem?

I am fascinated by idea of systematic change and the opportunity to bring my background in economic development and financial analysis to the social business realm is exciting. The approach of creating something standardized and scalable is also an intellectual challenge that's fun for me. We aren't trying to create one clinic- the goal is to create a chain of clinics spreading throughout Kenya and beyond. I enjoy the challenge of creating effective behavioral change marketing, combining education, incentives, and sales.

What is your solution to the problem?

The solution is to get health care to be quick, close, convenient  and reliable. If we don't get those things than people won’t see the benefit and aren't going to respond and make the changes necessary for us to be successful. Access Afya hopes to do this and provide a trusted private chain of care for our patients.

How has the William James Foundation competition and mentoring program helped you?

My time with the William James Foundation helped me become more articulate. The feedback I received on the business plan was incredibly beneficial in learning how to communicate how Access Afya works within the entire health system. It was also beneficial to receive the feedback from people with diverse backgrounds. There were points about the plan that every judge would agree one and then others that every judge would mention with a different opinion. Having people who are incredibly knowledgeable about their different fields reading the plan gave us great feedback and opportunity for reflection.

I have emailed my judges, and scheduled follow-up conversations with a few of them. Their advice, excitement, and networks have already been useful and I know I will be able to continue to draw on them for brainstorming or introductions.

Anything else you would like the William James Foundation community to know?

We are hoping to break ground on our second clinic in August 2013 and are always open to talking with people who have advice on scaling our idea.

The WJF team always loves meeting up with our entrants! So it was no surprise that we had a great time talking with Access Afya’s founder Melissa Menke, a finalist for the Venture Phase Category in William James Foundation’s 2013 Business Plan Competition. Melissa shared with us a bit of the clinic’s journey and some great reads that made an impact on her path to becoming the social entrepreneur she is today.

It’s hard to believe that Melissa wasn’t always a social entrepreneur. In fact, the opportunity to start Access Afya came after she had been doing research on the viability of this type of health care system. She shared that, “The friend, who I was working and doing the research for told me one day that if I agreed to head up the project and could make it truly viable he would give me the seed money it needed. Right then and there.” After realizing that she had inadvertently created a viable social business venture she went right to work making it happen.

After months of planning Access Afya’s first clinic opened its doors in December of 2012. Prior to their launch, potential investors were hesitant that the low income people Access Afya is serving wouldn’t pay for healthcare but they did. Infact the clinic saw a steady two patients a day during that first month. January saw a slow in business but the number of patents picked up again in February. May continued to see growth as they signed up their first patients as a part of their membership program! May also saw greater sales of wellness products such as inhalers and family planning tools.This is particularly exciting because one goal of Access Afya is to increase preventive health care and increase healthy living. Moving forward, Access Afya is looking to partner with schools, employers, and savings groups across Nairobi. These partnerships will increase access to the affordable and reliable health care provided by Access Afya’s clinics.

This story of perseverance, determination and strength was fueled by Melissa’s great staff and some inspirational books that helped shape her own story. The Access Afya team seems like a stellar group and Melissa was excited to share the hard work they’re doing. She also told us of some books that both her and her team love. These include “Mountains Beyond Mountains: Healing the World: The Quest of Dr. Paul Farmer” by Tracy Kidder and  “How to Change the World: Social Entrepreneurs and the Power of New Ideas” by David Bornstein.

It was an honor to meet with Melissa and learn about all of the great work taking place with Access Afya. Congratulations once again to Access Afya, and all of our other finalists,  for their success in WJF’s 2013 Business Plan Competition!

Access to basic healthcare is fundamental to our quality of life. Unfortunately, in Kenya, access to medical care is primarily determined by wealth. This leads to the startling fact that almost a tenth of children die before their fifth birthday. Access Afya is tackling this problem by creating ultra-mini clinics that will provide health services to the neediest families in Nairobi.

Access Afya’s approach to providing medical care is distinct; designed to assist the extreme poor who are less likely to access preventative and life-saving treatments, use family planning, and seek out their HIV status. They will provide a clean and private health experience for patients who live in Nairobi’s slums, where conditions tend to exacerbate disease. This will regulate medical processes that are typically unregulated and help reduce preventable deaths. Their model is based on a strong foundation of technology, using computers to keep records, store medical histories, communicate with patients, and manage medical resources.

Currently, Access Afya has assisted 400 patients for various conditions ranging from asthma treatment to HIV counseling. Now, they intend to further their impact by creating a second clinic. Reaching their $10,000 tipping point goal will allow them to begin building this clinic and $26,000 will help them provide salaries, buy various supplies, and, most importantly, begin to make the clinic self-sustaining. With 24 days left in the campaign, they are so close to reaching their goal—let’s help get them there and contribute to a better future for the 20 million Kenyans living in poverty that Access Afya will empower to take charge of their own health and well-being.

Learn more about Access Afya's campaign on StartSomeGood

    Asibi Danjuma

I am a 23-year-old Londoner currently in law school. I have a BA in Politics and International Relations and an LLB in law. I have worked as a Student Facilitator for the British Red Cross, taught at local schools in Berkshire and have done a lot of pro bono legal research for Amnesty International and the Arizona Capital Trials Project. When I finish law school, I hope to start saving the world by working in developmental research and perhaps move to Paris to eat macaroons, dabble in photography and write stories. I’m also an avid reader, white wine drinker and world traveler.

_______________________________________________________