Malaria Meets Matibabu

Ugandan-developed app speeds up malaria diagnosis without drawing blood

After experiencing several bouts of malaria, which almost cost him his university education, Brian Gita, 26, took the decision to use technology to help him and others by developing a smartphone app that can diagnose malaria without a blood test.

Gita, a computer science graduate from Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda, is one of a group of four computer scientists who created the app, known as Matibabu (Swahili word for treatment).

He said the app has so far proved to be 80 percent accurate in diagnosing malaria and was simple to use, producing a diagnosis result within one to two minutes.

The app went on to win the prestigious top prize for engineering innovation recently from the Royal Academy of Engineering at an event held in Nairobi, along with a cash prize of $32,000.

80% Matibabu app’s accuracy in diagnosing malaria

Chinese assistance

Additional funds of $65,000 from China’s Ministry of Science and Technology were also granted this year to Gita for his team to develop the app further to its full potential.

“We hope by the time we have completed our pilot trials, the app can have an effectiveness rate of 99 percent. The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends the rate to be at least 85 percent,” said Gita. Currently, his team is working with 14 hospitals in Uganda and a few in Kenya, and the app has diagnosed more than 300 people.

“Chinese funds will go a long way [toward our research]. If we can