Building Zim knowledge, innovation start-up communities science-based industrialisation in healthcare sector

The previous article about start-up communities for science based industrialisation in the and engineering sector discussed the need to make investments and develop legislation for manufacturing.

IT also emphasised the need to expand the scope of the local engineering industries. This article is about building Zimbabwe knowledge and innovation start-up communities for science based industrialisation in the healthcare sector. It will discuss the following: The importance of health sciences, value chain analysis of the healthcare industry, primary activities of the healthcare industry, supporting activities of the healthcare industry, and developing partnerships for the healthcare industry.

The importance of health sciences

The definition of health science is the study of the well-being, health, or medical care for human beings or those who are sick or unhealthy. It is also the study of improving healthcare systems and policies with knowledge from STEM disciplines: Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Health Sciences looks at the latest discoveries in these areas and tries to apply them for medical purposes. The results are more efficient healthcare institutions, improved reliability of medical devices and systems, well-implemented emergency plans and so on.

Those who study and work in the health sciences field learn skills and fundamentals for taking care of people in a wide range of medical specialties. A typical health sciences curriculum includes subjects like Healthcare Ethics, Health Informatics, Healthcare Policy, Health IT and Innovations, Health Service Management, Health Service Quality, Health Promotion, Leadership, Health Communication, Health Administration, Financing Healthcare Services among others.

Health Sciences is a broad discipline. This is why not all programmes have the same academic goals.

Certain degrees focus more on nutrition sciences, others on exercise sciences, and the list of examples can go on. What students need to know is that Health Sciences is the ideal choice if they want to make a difference in healthcare provision at the administration or policy level. Some healthcare professionals work in laboratories, investigating diseases or discovering new treatments, while others work in direct contact with patients in clinical care. Health Sciences graduates can practice in public hospitals, private clinics, schools, community health services and governmental agencies.

Career prospects include work as nurses, physician assistants, physiotherapists, pharmacists, health educators, health inspectors, social workers and freelancers in alternative therapies.

The health sciences field is important because its primary purpose is maintaining the well-being of mankind.

The more advances that are made in health sciences and medicine, the more the human species is able to heal one another and create longer lifespans than previously possible.

The healthcare industry focuses on performing diagnosis, treatment, curing and prevention of illnesses, injuries and many other physical and mental diseases and illnesses. Doctors, health professionals and allied health areas provide healthcare services in the healthcare industry. Health professions in healthcare industry include athletic training, physical therapy, occupational therapy, psychology, audiology, optometry, nursing, midwifery, pharmacy, dentistry and medicine.

Value chain analysis of the healthcare industry

There is a need to evaluate the current state of Zimbabwe’s health industry value chain with a view to developing local capacity for all the different players involved in the value chain. Decisions can then be made on how start-ups can be capacitated and then integrated to actively participate in the manufacturing and provision of healthcare products and services.

The healthcare industry focuses on performing diagnosis, treatment curing and prevention of illnesses, injuries and many other physical and mental diseases and illnesses. Doctors, health professionals and allied health workers provide healthcare services in the healthcare industry. The value chain analysis of the healthcare industry consists of primary and supporting activities. The primary activities are inbound and outbound logistics, operations, marketing and services. The supporting activities include infrastructure, HRM, technology and procurement.

Primary activities of the healthcare industry

Inbound logistics consist of pharmaceutical companies, research facilities and medical equipment manufacturers. Pharmaceutical companies are the top supplies of medicines, supplements and many over the counter medicines for customers in the healthcare industry.

They play a key role in sourcing raw materials and supplies for the production of medicines; manufacturing medicines and supplying medicines to pharmacies, hospitals and customers across the region. Medical research facilities play a critical role in healthcare.

Often their work and role comprise performing medical research on various diseases; finding out their causes and signs; creating literature, conducting studies and distributing literature worldwide.

The medical labs perform tests and experiments based on their research literature and findings. Medical equipment, devices and surgical tools are highly significant for providing healthcare services. Medical equipment manufacturing companies are the main suppliers of tools, equipment and devices.

Outbound logistics consist of distributors, wholesalers, and hospitals.

There are various medicine wholesale and distribution companies that focus on providing distribution services to pharmaceutical companies.

They procure mass quantities of medicines from various pharmaceutical companies; store them in their ware houses and then distribute them to various pharmacies, hospitals and other healthcare units based on their required orders.

Hospitals and healthcare units distribute healthcare services, medicines and doctor consultations to patients and sick people. They deal with both tangible (medicine) and intangible (consultation and checkup) products and services to patients and resolve their problems. Operations of the healthcare industry consist of research laboratories, manufacturing companies, and packaging and labelling. Medical research laboratories study and analyse the research literature of various medical institutes.

Based on the theoretical research studies, they perform tests and experiments on a small scale to develop medicines for the diseases. After developing the medicine, they test it on animals and human beings under careful examination to study the results and reactions of the medicine. Before the mass scale production and distribution of the medicine, it goes through various stages of tests and trials to receive approval from the healthcare industry regulator.

Medicine and medical device manufacturing companies face different types of challenges while producing medical products on a mass scale. They have to source materials from various suppliers worldwide and carefully manufacture on a mass scale. Packaging and labelling of medicines is a highly important operational area in the healthcare industry.

Misleading and false labelling and claims would cause a lot of defamation lawsuits against the company. They need to write the right effects and reactions of the medicines without making false claims.

Marketing and sales involves medical representatives and pharmacies. Medical representatives work for various pharmaceutical companies to market and promote their medicines medical devices and equipment.

They approach various doctors and healthcare service providers to prescribe their medicines to patients.

Often, they give commissions and expensive gifts to doctors for prescribing their medicinal products. Pharmacies and medical stores also market the medical products and medicines of various pharmaceutical companies. It is because they directly engage with the end consumers; place the promotional supplements on the counter; and recommend complimentary products to patients.

The healthcare industry offers a wide range of services to patients and sick people. Some of them are as follows; diagnosing the diseases; offering relevant medicine; thorough physical examination; performing surgery; performing various types of tests; and consultation and recommendation.

Supporting activities of the healthcare industry

The healthcare industry has established a very large infrastructure of medical institutes, research facilities, medicine manufacturing companies, Medical Equipment Producing Firms; Distribution Companies medical equipment producing firms; distribution companies and Supplier networks, supplier networks. Well-organised and developed infrastructure of healthcare — healthcare companies ensures the smooth flow of various activities and operations from sources, manufacturing and distribution to the retail of medicine.

The healthcare industry employs a lot of people performing different roles. They could be doctors, nurses, surgeons, medical reps, pharmacists, pharmaceutical manufacturer, technical staff, researchers, and many other roles and professionals. Collectively, they play a key role in treating patients directly or indirectly.

Healthcare units and pharmaceutical companies invest millions of dollars in research and development for finding the cure and treatment of various diseases; and producing medical devices. The objective is to serve patients, gain a competitive edge and earn revenue and profitability. However, it is mutually beneficial for both companies and patients.

Healthcare facilities and pharmaceutical companies are highly cautious about ethical sourcing and procurement of the right medicines for customers. They have to follow strict protocols and regulations of the medical industry and the government. In case of non- compliance with ethical practices, would cause a lawsuit, heavy fines and prison time.

Developing the start-up community partnerships for the healthcare industry

The start-up community can develop partnerships that will bring together all the different actors critical to the development of start-ups in the healthcare industry. The healthcare industry should partner with the Ministry of Health and Child Care, the industry regulator which is the Medicines Control Authority of Zimbabwe.

The partnerships should include associations, such as the Allied Health Practitioners Council of Zimbabwe, the Zimbabwe Medical Association and the financial Institutions with a specific focus on the health industry and businesses in the health industry.

The research institute to assist in carrying out health and medical research are the National Institute of Health Research and the Medical Research Council of Zimbabwe.

The respective partnerships can carry out research activities to identify challenges requiring innovative solutions in the healthcare industry.

This information can assist in developing innovation competitions/challenge looking for start-ups who can develop a business case to address the innovation challenge, which can then be scaled up for the African continent.

The writer Nokuthula G Moyo-Muparuri is a lecturer at the Midlands State University in the Faculty of Business Sciences. She is also the founder of the Institute of Applied Entrepreneurship. The mission of the Institute is start-up/innovation skills development and start-up/innovation ecosystem development. The institute has established Zim start-up communities initiative, to capacitate those interested in establishing start-up communities in their towns, cities, colleges and universities. Those interested can contact the institute on +263718747621.