After a surge in uptake during the Covid-19 pandemic, the telehealth industry is courting new investment to further innovation and increase access to care in emerging markets. Digital health companies raised a record $57.2bn in global venture capital funding in 2021, a 79% jump from the $32bn raised in 2020, with 30% of the total directed towards telehealth. An estimated $140bn in private sector finance will be needed annually between 2015 and 2030 to realise the UN’s health-related Sustainable Development Goals, according to the UN Conference on Trade and Development, underscoring the importance of boosting spending commitments in the global health-tech space.
Telehealth Solutions
As health-tech in advanced markets matures, emerging markets offer an avenue for digital health technology to expand access to care, improve patient outcomes and cut costs. In sub-Saharan Africa, for example, some countries have as few as 0.23 doctors per 10,000 people compared to 84.2 in some of the most developed countries, according to the World Health Organisation. Investment in lowcost, high-impact fields such as telehealth could help to bridge this gap, however, with Africa’s health-tech market on course to reach $11bn by 2025.
In Ghana, the Ministry of Health and the Ghana Health Service set up teleconsultation services as early as 2016 with the Swiss Novartis Foundation, and in October 2021 a local health-tech start-up, mPharma, announced plans to construct 100 virtual health centres in seven African markets. Backed by Silicon Valley-based Breyer Capital, the start-up raised over $50m between its founding in 2013 and 2021. Highlighting its potential, mPharma’s partnership in September 2021 with Gabon’s strategic investment fund, which is geared towards building drug supply infrastructure, has saved the country 30% in procurement costs in one year.
Many countries are leveraging tools such as 5G, artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things to improve patient outcomes, reduce medical staff burnout, and lower health care and operating costs. To take one example, internet connectivity plays a fundamental role in India’s health-tech expansion. AI-powered predictive analytics are enabling the early detection of diabetes and cancer in the country. These technologies could be integrated with portable screening devices to provide early testing for underserved rural areas, where 70% of the country’s population lives. The country’s health care sector was estimated to be around $372bn in 2023, and the integration of data and AI in the delivery of health care could add an estimated $25bn-30bn to GDP by 2025.
The Future Of Health
Meanwhile, in Bahrain, the digital health market is rapidly growing, driven by an increasing customer preference for convenient and accessible digital health solutions, according to research firm Statista. Younger populations are particularly inclined towards digital fitness apps and online doctor consultations are becoming popular among busy professionals. The market is further propelled by investment and collaboration between tech companies and health care providers, along with government initiatives promoting digital health.
In January 2023 local health care provider Saleem Telemedicine announced the launch of its medical platform, TellSaleem, in Bahrain, scheduled for March of that year. The platform aims to help patients and doctors exchange medical data, access cross-border advisory and treatment plans, and market services within the kingdom and to a global audience.
In December 2023 Bahrain’s Shura Council approved a law to enhance remote health care, promoting more accessible medical consultations, diagnoses, and patient monitoring. Alongside this, the council proposed a legal framework the same month to establish accountability in telehealth practices. If approved, the National Health Regulatory Authority will oversee the rules, regulations and procedures for telemedicine services, ensuring their effective and safe delivery to patients.
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