An estimated 100 million people in sub-Saharan Africa live in “healthcare blackholes”, i.e., remote rural communities where the closest health facility is more than 5km away, a distance considered by WHO as a risk factor and an indicator of poor healthcare accessibility. In poor rural contexts, where most people travel by foot, available healthcare options are limited to low-stocked drug shops with unqualified staff. The alternative, which is to spend money on transport to the closest health facility, risks postponements to seeking care, leading to avoidable debilitating conditions and deaths.

In Uganda, about 12 per cent of the population (5 million people) live in healthcare black holes, of which half live in communities too small to sustain a health centre. Nearby countries like Ethiopia, Western DRC, Mozambique, Malawi, and Tanzania also face similar challenges, leaving over 22 million people in the region in dire need of primary healthcare access.

OneDay Health runs a network of primary healthcare centres (currently 38) in healthcare ‘black holes’ across rural Uganda. It uses an online mapping tool integrating government health centre locations, road network and population density data to create a heatmap of healthcare access. This quickly identifies underserved areas and evaluates said areas’ capacity to sustain a health centre. If a site is deemed suitable, the organisation rents a space in the community, equips it with key medical supplies, and employs local nurses to staff the centre. The nurses receive training in standardised clinical protocols, diagnosis, and treatment for 30 common health issues. Nurses can consult OneDay Health’s team of national and international volunteer doctors anytime.

OneDay Health’s treatment guidelines are based on the principle of the most cost-effective medication at the minimum appropriate dosage, minimising costs without compromising the quality of care.

To date, they have launched 40 OneDay health centres and treated over 200,000 patients, including 80,000 children under five years old and 85,000 people cured of often-deadly malaria. OneDay Health centres are estimated to save 1.75 lives every year at a cost of $2600, which places them among the most cost-effective life-saving interventions in the world.

The health centres have also empowered 3k+ women to take control of their reproductive futures through injectable family planning. With 70 per cent of their clients living below the international poverty line, OneDay Health has helped relieve a massive financial burden by enabling these communities to save over $287,000 in health costs in 2022.