There are phenomenal things going on in the tech startup space currently in Nigeria. Most recently, Surjen, a health tech company, joined the game to deliver quality care and take world-class medical assistance to patients, thereby making primary healthcare more accessible and affordable to one and all.
Surjen is a health tech company based in Abuja and connects the fragmented medical community with millions of patients across the country. The company has made information more accessible by creating a platform that allows healthcare providers to list their services and provide an array of services for patients, mainly for surgery packages cost comparison, second medical opinion, consultation with doctors, laboratory services, etc.
Access to affordable and quality healthcare – including that within the home setup — is in high demand in Nigeria and Surjen is setting new benchmarks in Nigeria’s healthcare ecosystem by providing hospital-quality care accessible from anywhere.
This dynamic startup, which is already disrupting the industry, is also addressing the misconception of medical tourism by helping patients seeking medical treatment abroad to make informed decisions and connect them to the right kind of quality health provider here in Nigeria which they otherwise don’t know about.
Nigeria loses about N389 billion ($1 billion) to medical tourism annually. This amount does not reflect the man-hour involved in the preparation, travel to and fro, and the stress involved in the whole process.
The contemporary debate over the current and potential benefit of medical tourism will soon be obsolete as Surjen aims to improve the healthcare delivery system in Nigeria.
Apart from being a leader in the online healthcare space, Surjen is currently the one-stop-shop for all clinical needs of a patient at home. The company covers everything from lab services, ambulance services and equipment/devices rentals and sales to medical manpower deployment at the patients’ home.
It is clear that the global threat from coronavirus is continuing to grow, and at a rapidly accelerating rate. Surjen is making a very positive contribution to healthcare during the pandemic, emerging as an effective and sustainable solution for precaution, prevention and treatment to stem the spread of COVID-19.
Surjen is bridging the gap between people, doctors and health systems, enabling everyone, especially symptomatic patients, to stay at home and communicate with doctors through virtual channels, helping to reduce the spread of the virus to mass populations and the medical staff on the frontlines. People who are suffering from other medical ailments during this time can receive care from home, without entering medical facilities, minimizing their risk of contracting the virus.
Nigeria is the most populated country in Africa with a population of over 190 million people. The growing population creates a high demand for healthcare service and a huge market and Surjen’s strategy to scale is simple – onboard as many doctors and hospital onto the platform and drive value for them. Then, by heavily subsidizing for the consumers and providing good services, patients would follow.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Aduragbemi Omiyale