The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced an $11 million investment to support Field, an African healthtech company, in its efforts to address maternal and newborn health issues across the continent. This initiative aims to tackle one of Africa’s most critical healthcare challenges by accelerating the introduction of emerging therapies and health technologies to reduce maternal mortality and improve child health outcomes.
Field has established itself as a leader in healthtech innovation, using technology to streamline health supply chains and deliver critical healthcare solutions. This new initiative, backed by the Gates Foundation, will leverage Field’s proprietary technology, distribution network, and financing services to reach over 40,000 public and private healthcare providers across Kenya and Nigeria. These services are designed to combat the urgent health challenges posed by maternal and newborn mortality while also improving access to nutrition services for mothers and infants.
Since its founding in 2015, Field has facilitated more than 800 million health interventions in over 60 therapeutic areas, including family planning, HIV, and tuberculosis. By deploying its unique capabilities within complex distribution channels, Field will accelerate the availability of life-saving therapies and health technologies. This initiative also includes a significant digitization effort aimed at private healthcare providers, hospitals, and healthcare bodies at both state and federal levels. Additionally, it offers financing solutions to strengthen the operational capacities of healthcare providers and improve their purchasing power.
As part of this ambitious maternal health program, Field will collaborate with governments, healthcare manufacturers, and other key stakeholders to create a coalition aimed at improving maternal health services across Africa. This collaborative approach will support healthcare providers with last-mile delivery services, ensuring the efficient supply of medical products to even the most remote areas. The installation of pharmaceutical-grade refrigerators will further enhance the storage and effectiveness of sensitive therapies.
One of the major goals of this initiative is to reduce maternal mortality rates in Africa, which are among the highest in the world. According to the World Health Organization, Africa accounted for 69% of global maternal deaths in 2020, with Nigeria alone responsible for 29% of these fatalities. The risk of a woman dying in childbirth in Africa is 45 times higher than in Europe, highlighting the urgent need for new interventions and healthcare improvements.
Field’s new service will give expectant mothers in Africa access to emerging therapies such as heat-stable carbetocin, a drug that prevents postpartum hemorrhage—the leading cause of maternal death in Africa. Additionally, calibrated drapes, used to detect and treat hemorrhages more effectively, will be deployed. These interventions, along with established therapies, will help reduce complications like preeclampsia and significantly improve maternal and newborn health outcomes.
Michael Moreland, CEO and Founder of Field, emphasized the impact of this initiative: “This is public health powered by technology. What we have built over the last eight years will now be scaled and integrated into large-scale public health programs. This is how we believe health technology companies should operate—by forming innovative, impactful coalitions between public and private entities.”
Moreland added that by digitally powering, networking, and financing healthcare systems at scale, the initiative would bring quality care to more people. He believes the funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will enable Field to make a rapid impact on maternal and child health survival rates across Africa.
Field’s initiative comes at a critical time when many global pharmaceutical companies have withdrawn from the African market due to economic challenges. Moreland acknowledged that while there have been significant gains in healthcare delivery, the absence of coordinated systems could slow progress. “Without organized systems and processes, the progress we’ve seen could be lost. Field, along with our funders, is committed to ensuring this doesn’t happen,” Moreland said.
In addition to its maternal health focus, Field continues to expand its healthtech solutions across Africa. Its Field Supply platform is now the largest pharmaceutical supply chain network in Africa, distributing more than 3,000 high-quality medical products across over 50 therapeutic areas. This platform supports over 2,500 pharmacies and hospitals in 24 cities across Nigeria and Kenya, including government healthcare facilities, retail chains, and family-operated drug stores. Field’s platform also offers trade financing solutions to address the working capital constraints that often hinder healthcare providers from adopting new medical interventions.
As Field scales its services, this new maternal health initiative represents a crucial step toward improving healthcare outcomes for mothers and children in Africa. With the support of the Gates Foundation, Field is poised to drive long-term, sustainable change in healthcare delivery across the continent, making life-saving interventions more accessible and effective for millions of people.