USAID Announces Keheala Amongst Recipients of Development Innovation Ventures Grant
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) through the Global Development Lab's Development Innovation Ventures (DIV) program announced Keheala as one of 18 recent grantees. While the majority of grantees are new to USAID, this is the second award Keheala has received from the development agency to improve tuberculosis treatment success rates in Kenya.
With this funding, Keheala will enroll a diverse patient population across Kenya’s geographic, cultural and socioeconomic spectrums. A four-sided randomized controlled trial (RCT) will compare Keheala’s cost-effectiveness with alternative adherence interventions.
The Stage 2 grant was issued following a successful proof-of-concept RCT supported by DIV Stage 1 funding. Patients using the Keheala intervention demonstrated a two-thirds reduction in the unsuccessful treatment outcomes - death, failed treatment and loss to follow up - compared to the standard of care control group.
Upon issuing the grant, the DIV team remarked that while 90% of Stage 1 recipients apply for Stage 2 funding through the program, only 5% of these applicants receive a Stage 2 award.
The innovation program is setup to "bring in new ideas for solving problems facing millions around the world - delivering more impact, for less money, with greater potential for sustainable scale. Inspired by the venture capital experience, DIV uses a tiered, evidence-based funding model to test ideas, gather evidence of what works, find failures quickly and cheaply, without long-term commitments, and continue to support only proven solutions."
Founded in 2014, Keheala is a mobile health company that improves healthcare access and treatment outcomes by empowering patients with information, motivation and support, all across basic feature phones or smartphones. Keheala addresses the non-medical drivers of disease that exist away from health facilities while providing healthcare agencies with the remote-monitoring capabilities and analytics necessary for combatting epidemics in resource-constrained environments.