Damu Sasa is a technology platform built to aid easier access to useful life-saving health information. Every day, millions of patients risk death due to the lack of real-time health information. For example, almost 3 out of every 5 mothers risk death during childbirth in part due to the lack of safe blood for transfusion. That is even though the blood products may be available in a neighbouring hospital not too far away. Accordingly, Damu Sasa provides a solution that connects all hospitals to one digital platform, allowing them to share real-time information. That aids hospitals in quickly sourcing blood products that they may not have from neighbouring hospitals.
Damu Sasa was inspired by a terror attack in Nairobi, Kenya, on 21st September 2013. Multiple victims of the attack needed timely access to safe blood for transfusion. However, not every Kenyan willing to donate was in a position to do so due to geographical limitations. Damu Sasa thus desired to make it possible for any willing Kenyan to participate in saving lives through blood donation, from any part of the country and to have facilities easily network amongst themselves in real-time, to exchange the donated blood products.
Through that pursuit, Damu Sasa ended up being incubated at the Ministry of ICT (MoICT), through the Presidential Digital Talent Programme (PDTP).It is while under incubation that Damu Sasa grew in both mission and vision. Thereafter, Damu Sasa was piloted at the Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH), the largest referral hospital in East and Central Africa, for 2 years, where it helped realize positive changes in the hospital’s blood services value chain.
Beyond KNH, Damu Sasa grew to serve many other hospitals across the country, helping to save thousands of lives in the process. In the course of serving the many hospitals, and thus receiving continuous feedback, and in addition to our ongoing research, Damu Sasa realized that it is more than blood required on a timely basis to save lives. Accordingly, Damu Sasa embarked on building more life-saving services to its pre-existing solution. To date, Damu Sasa has since incorporated a Hospital Management Information System, a Lab Management Information System, a Quality Management System, an Equipment and Applications Management System, and a Lab reagents and Management System, to better help hospitals achieve more positive treatment outcomes.
Damu Sasa continues to learn and innovate through that learning. We continue to build to make our services better for our clients every day.
Damu Sasa;
Use of Damu Sasa in Turkana;
Use of Damu Sasa to conduct blood drives;
