When the physician will not take heed to you, MyDébboApp bets it can 

She requested me to present her a symptom, one thing abnormal and actual. I discussed a small challenge that had lingered longer than it ought to have, one which I had been which means to take a look at. I watched as the bogus intelligence (AI) triage instrument bubbled to life as she typed my symptom into the chat field, the way in which I might kind it in a Google search bar.

A message popped up, after which one other. They had been follow-up questions, every one narrowed down the issue, like a physician attempting to grasp what was actually taking place. It requested questions on when the symptom began, how lengthy it had lasted, whether or not it had unfold, and the way a lot it was taking place. Inside seconds of research, the system generated a abstract of doable causes, defined its reasoning behind every selection, really useful the type of specialist that matched the situations, and recommended what to do subsequent by offering an inventory of specialists I may guide a session with.

I hadn’t left my seat to be in a ready room or fill out paper types. After a couple of brief minutes, I had correct and clear language to speak to a physician about my signs. 

The instrument I had simply examined is a part of a brand new ladies’s well being platform known as Débbo Africa, a startup based by two Nigerian docs, Dr. Zara Modibbo and Dr. Aisha Wanka. Their concept is to shut the gender well being hole by making care extra accessible and simple to navigate for African ladies.

Girls have usually described the sensation of being dismissed by medical professionals, talking however not fairly being heard. Complaints abound about being dismissed or rushed via appointments, particularly if ache or signs are usually not instantly seen. However Dr. Zara Modibbo factors out that silence isn’t at all times as a consequence of neglect. “One of many the explanation why lots of ladies really feel unheard is as a result of our well being methods are stretched. They’re underfunded, and there are usually not that many medical specialists as properly.”

For the previous three years, Débbo Africa has operated as a women-centred healthcare platform, connecting customers to digital consultations, diagnostic checks, radiology scans, peer help, and medical specialists throughout completely different fields. However its subsequent massive step is the app I used to be proven, MyDébboApp, a digital extension of that platform that makes use of AI to triage signs and information customers to the appropriate care.

Débbo Africa’s broader work targets high-burden situations that disproportionately have an effect on African ladies, together with fibroids, menopause-related problems, and cervical most cancers. African ladies have the best burden of uterine fibroids on the planet, occurring at charges 3–4 instances better in them in comparison with their counterparts of different races. Cervical most cancers is the most typical explanation for dying amongst ladies in 21 of the 48 international locations in sub-Saharan Africa. Among the many 20 international locations on the planet with the best burden of cervical most cancers, 18 are within the World Well being Organisation (WHO) African area. By beginning with these areas, Débbo Africa is tackling among the continent’s most uncared for but widespread well being challenges, the place delays in prognosis and therapy carry life-altering penalties.

The app that listens

On the core of MyDébboApp is an AI triage instrument, Dr. Déb, that works very like a physician’s preliminary evaluation throughout a bodily session. It asks structured follow-up questions on signs typed within the chat by customers, and organises the data to assist ladies articulate what they’re experiencing earlier than they even meet a clinician. The purpose is to scale back the time it takes from when an issue is seen to getting skilled assist.

The world over, researchers have discovered that many AI instruments providing well being info can produce deceptive and even harmful recommendation. A 2025 examine by the MIT Media Lab revealed that AI bots usually carry inaccuracies. Individuals discovered low-accuracy AI-generated medical responses to be legitimate, reliable, and passable, and confirmed a excessive tendency to observe probably dangerous medical recommendation and incorrectly search pointless medical consideration. 

Débbo Africa says Dr. Déb isn’t any guessing machine. Reasonably than taking part in physician, the instrument listens to complaints, buildings them, and supplies suggestions that may be handed to professionals who may also help. It helps customers perceive their signs and establish which kind of healthcare skilled could also be most applicable to seek the advice of. “Each triage output is validated via human oversight, and all medical selections relaxation with licensed clinicians,” Dr. Modibbo says.

Not like general-purpose AI chatbots, Dr. Déb was constructed with a human-in-the-loop method, the place each layer of the instrument has been reviewed by docs and medical consultants throughout the Débbo Africa workforce to make sure medical accuracy. For Débbo Africa’s founders, this automation is about effectivity: the sooner a lady can describe what’s unsuitable, the sooner she will attain somebody certified to deal with it. ”This (Dr. Déb) isn’t an autonomous AI; that is human-centred AI that’s designed to not change well being professionals and docs, however really to assist them,” Dr. Modibbo says.

Within the demo, I noticed how the method reduces friction because it eliminates guessing which specialist to see. The app builds a structured dialog, then matches customers with obtainable specialists, lots of them ladies, for digital or bodily consultations. “Typically, many ladies’s well being points are fairly delicate, and generally ladies would possibly desire talking to a feminine physician. We’ve that function constructed into our infrastructure,” Dr. Modibbo provides.

Each session is logged. The notes and summaries docs make throughout a session are hooked up to the person’s in-app medical report, which they’ll entry. Customers can even add previous medical data to supply a historical past of their situations. The platform additionally features a group function, which is a moderated peer group the place ladies share experiences and culturally related well being content material tailor-made to their situations.

It prices between ₦3,000–₦5,000 ($2.05–$3.41) for a session with a common medical officer and about ₦20,000–₦30,000 ($13.66–$20.49) to have a session with a specialist. The corporate can be adopting a freemium mannequin, permitting ladies to make use of elements of the app, reminiscent of academic content material, group boards, and Dr. Déb, with out paying, to make step one of care accessible to as many ladies as doable. The workforce is iterating on methods to make the app usable throughout completely different literacy and digital consolation ranges. The present model works primarily in English, however future iterations will embody native languages and culturally related phrasing to make it simpler for ladies to explain signs the way in which they naturally would.

Since its launch, Débbo Africa has facilitated over 1,000 diagnostic checks throughout 10 Nigerian states and has partnered with over 100 medical specialists. The workforce plans to launch MyDébboApp publicly within the first quarter of 2026, after ultimate rounds of iteration and have updates. Along with consultations, they’re constructing integrations for pharmacy supply and private well being knowledge monitoring as a part of wider efforts to make MyDébboApp a single entry level for ladies’s healthcare in Africa.

What struck me probably the most in regards to the demo was how easy it was. Medical practitioners usually warn towards what they name the “Dr. Google syndrome,” that’s, the behavior of turning to search engines like google and yahoo for solutions that always scare customers greater than they make clear signs. As somebody who instinctively varieties each new symptom right into a search bar, it felt oddly reassuring to see one thing I may belief ready on the opposite finish.

What MyDébboApp actually does is return a way of calm to that anxious second when one thing feels off and also you don’t but know why. Which may be its energy, giving ladies solutions that they’ll belief from a system that lastly feels prefer it’s listening.