Cimas Health Group’s annual Healthathon has evolved beyond a competition into a national platform for digital health innovation, bringing together Zimbabwean innovators to develop solutions to some of the country’s pressing healthcare challenges.
The Healthathon 3.0 grand finale is set for Friday, August 28, at Cimas Health Group’s head office in Borrowdale, Harare, under the theme “Reimagining Healthcare Through Disruptive Innovation.”
Cimas Health Group Chief Information Officer Foster Akaketwa said the initiative was increasingly becoming a platform for innovators to turn technology-driven ideas into practical healthcare solutions.
“This year’s Cimas Healthathon 3.0 has once again provided a national platform for innovators to develop technology-driven solutions to some of Zimbabwe’s most pressing healthcare challenges,” Akaketwa said.
The third edition attracted 372 submissions from innovators, start-ups, researchers, students and emerging technology enthusiasts from across Zimbabwe, an increase from the previous edition.
The submissions sought to tackle challenges including healthcare affordability, limited access to services, fragmented data systems, delays in service delivery, weak engagement in preventive healthcare, operational inefficiencies and rising healthcare costs.
According to Akaketwa, the ideas submitted this year covered a broad range of areas, including diagnostics, preventive healthcare, artificial intelligence, rural healthcare, rehabilitation, data protection and emergency response.
The competition progressed through several stages of screening, presentations, mentorship and refinement. The initial pool of 372 submissions was narrowed to the Top 20 and then Top 15, before 10 teams were selected for the grand finale.
Akaketwa said mentorship had played a key role in helping participants move beyond initial concepts and develop solutions with a better understanding of real-world healthcare requirements.
“Each of the Top 15 teams was assigned a mentor. The mentors worked with the teams to challenge their assumptions, strengthen their research, understand healthcare workflows, refine their solutions and think through what would be required to take those solutions into implementation,” he said.
At the finale, the 10 finalists will pitch their solutions before a judging panel comprising Cimas leadership and external experts from the healthcare, technology, innovation and industry sectors.
The overall winner will receive US$3,500, while the second- and third-placed teams will receive US$2,000 and US$1,500, respectively.
However, Cimas says the initiative is intended to offer participants opportunities beyond the prize money, including further validation, incubation, partnerships and potential pilot programmes.
“Our Healthathon is about identifying innovations that have the potential to create real healthcare impact,” Akaketwa said. “Beyond the monetary prizes, participants stand to gain something even more valuable, the opportunity to have their innovations considered for piloting with Cimas Health Group and to contribute to shaping the future of healthcare in Zimbabwe.”
Akaketwa said the ultimate measure of the programme would be whether ideas developed through the competition could move into implementation and improve people’s experience of healthcare.
“For us, the real success of Healthathon will be when an idea developed through this challenge moves beyond the competition and begins making a measurable difference in people’s lives,” he said.
