Vula’s purpose is to get patients access to the right healthcare by running software that connects health workers.

Vula began as an idea at the Vula Emehlo Eye Clinic in Swaziland with the intention of helping community health workers using their mobile phones to conduct vision tests and connect to the Eye Clinic to get advice from specialists. First called ‘Operation Sight’, then ‘CatarApp (Cataract App), and then became known as Vula (a much better name) when it launched on the app stores in 2014. The primary use is as a referral system connecting frontline health workers with specialists. The first time Vula was used to connect a health worker with a specialist was in October 2014, we were so excited because there were 20 referrals in the first month. Now, 8 years later almost to the day, the 1,000,000th referral was made and we are running at more than 1 referral per minute. This is a major milestone and our audacious goal is to have 1 million health workers using Vula every week.

Vula started with only being available in ophthalmology. Two of the first health workers to use Vula were Sr Elizma Anthoniseen and Dr Paddy Gloster. “The app brought the whole field of specialist care to the rural areas and the patients now have access to specialist care, which they never had before”- Sr Elizma. Dr Paddy is now one of the senior Family Medicine specialists at Caledon Hospital and has published research “Investigating the effect of the Vula Mobile app on coordination of care and capacity building in district health services”. The personal feedback from health workers as well as the research they publish help inspire the Vula team and also guide as to how to improve the service.

We only add new features at the request of the health workers using Vula. Starting with ophthalmology there was demand for Vula to expand and we started adding more specialties in 2016 with Burns, Dermatology and Orthopaedics.Today there are more than 60 specialties using Vula ranging from cardiology, emergency medicine, endocrinology, general surgery, oncology to allied health services such as physiotherapy and to community services including community based palliative care. Vula was also used for COVID referrals during the pandemic. Dr Faried Abdullah, a COVID specialist, set a new record of handling 125 referrals on Vula in one day, while performing his daily ward rounds. In his words “It is a godsend. Vula is an integral management tool for all our admissions at Brackengate and I am thankful that I can manage incredibly high volumes of referrals easier and with improved accuracy because of it”.

CEO, Dr Mapham’s drive to improve rural healthcare started in the Eastern Cape. See: How the Vula app is revolutionising the South African healthcare system It was fitting that the 1,000,000th referral took place in the Eastern Cape at 9.26pm with a frontline health worker getting emergency advice from the orthopaedic surgeon on call at Livingstone Hospital. It is exciting to see Vula being used in more geographical areas and with more health managers seeing its value “Efficient, timeous, appropriate referrals are a key factor in ensuring good quality health outcomes. Vula is ensuring this occurs” - Dr Menitha Samjowan Acting CEO at Queen Nandi Regional Hospital in Kwa -Zulu Natal. The National Department of Health has recognised Vula and described it as “the glue that holds the health system together and the oil that makes it run efficiently”. We look forward to partnering with more key stakeholders in healthcare as we journey towards the 1 million health workers using Vula every week!