Ugly animals need love, too.

I had the chance to attend the 18th Conference of Parties of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, or CITES CoP18 for short – I know you skipped everything to read the acronym and a summary. To simplify, the CITES CoP is a conference which happens every three years where Parties (countries and regional bodies like the EU) meet to decide how to regulate the international trade in certain endangered plant and animal species. The decisions are often influenced by scientific fact and political interests. For any conservationist reading this, I hope I summarized it well enough for my target audience – my twitter followers. Stomp your left foot in disapproval if I didn’t. 

Aside from the main committee sessions at the conference where discussions, debates and voting happened, the conference also had multiple side events each day. These events revolved around advocacy and awareness-raising, progress reports, or support solicitation within the context of endangered species. I attended many of these side events, including one on the African vulture. The side event was organized by Birdlife International to raise awareness on the vulture crisis in Africa and to solicit support to push for increased protection for the vulture. As I did for the other side events I attended, I live posted with my personal twitter account. The reactions I got were quite interesting.

Note that I have tweeted about lions, elephants, otters, pangolins, and other species. None of them got the reaction the vultures got. Honestly, I understood why. Vultures look ugly. Growing up, I hated them partly because of their looks and partly thanks to things society made me believe about them. Vultures were associated with witchcraft and anything unwanted. Social beliefs aside, vultures look ugly. Did I already mention that? 

The general disinterest in vultures because of their appearance is no isolated issue. There is a study that gives proof of people generally giving the cute, charismatic, and majestic animals more attention than the ‘ugly’ ones. You would find people rallying for the conservation of the lion, not for their ecological importance but for their looks. In as much as it’s understandable that beautiful animals have pretty privilege, it’s also harmful to conservation in general. You find that funding is disproportionate in conservation because the beautiful animals are more marketable. It shouldn’t be so. In the case of the African vulture, 7 species are on the brink of extinction, but the attention it receives pales in comparison to the attention the African elephant receives. In hindsight, I should’ve replied the tweets asking why vultures had to be protected with “well why should we protect lions?” 

The decision to actively conserve certain plant and animal species depends on the ecological importance of that species, and/or proof of human activities threatening the survival of these species. It doesn’t depend on how cute the animals are. The protection of vultures is just as urgent as the protection of lions. Vultures aren’t known as ‘Nature’s Clean-up Crew’ for nothing. They clear away carcasses and prevent the spread of diseases such as rabies and tuberculosis. We need them alive. Unfortunately, 61% of vulture deaths from 26 countries in Africa have been due to poisoning. 29% of vulture deaths are associated with our superstitious beliefs. That’s a lot of preventable deaths.

It may seem like a lost cause, but it’s not too late. We can reorient our attitudes towards the African vulture and other ‘ugly’ animals. For starters, we can let our curiosity lead us to learn more about these neglected species and all endangered species in general. Everyone deserves to understand why we’re conserving this plant species or that animal species. We should take our own advice. You know, the one that says people should look beyond outward beauty and focus on what’s inside. 

 

A Plastic Ban? Well, Kinda.

Happy World Environment Day! This year’s celebration is themed around air pollution. Coincidentally and not-so-pleasantly, I spent the whole of yesterday sneezing my nose off because something was in the air.

While this year’s theme is on air pollution, I’ve chosen to write on another issue which comes up around this same time every year. No, not exactly the floods, but what is believed to be one of the underlying problems behind the floods – plastic pollution.

If you have read my tweets and some of my articles, you know my stance on handling the plastic menace is not an outright ban. I have always supported the promotion of behavioural change through sensitization because an outright ban without eco-friendly alternatives will almost certainly lead to a different environmental problem, at best. My approach has always followed the hierarchy of waste management, which puts waste reduction and reusing at the top two best ways of handling waste.

But here’s an idea: How about we use a ban of some form as a sensitization tool? Hear me out.

No, not an outright ban on all single-use plastics. How about a ban on certain common plastics we can do without? Take plastic straws. Most of us use plastic straws for our drinks. But take away the plastic straws from our drinks and life still goes on. It feels like an inconvenience for short time but you realise you can actually do without a plastic straw. It’s not as harsh as banning plastic (polyethylene) bags, PET water bottles, and water sachets so it shouldn’t be a problem. I know the plastic pollution problem is bigger than plastic straws. That it’s also about the plastic bags, water bottles, and sachets of water. That plastic pollution is the third biggest threat to aquatic species after overfishing and climate change, so banning plastic straws appears to be inadequate. I know, and I wholeheartedly agree with you on this, but my reason for avoiding an outright ban in 2019 remains. Most alternatives mentioned are out of reach to some, unavailable, inconvenient, or just as environmentally harmful, if not more harmful than plastics. A ban, at this time, might just solve an old problem to create a new one.

The thing is, most people unintentionally downplay the magnitude of the plastic pollution problem, from the local level to the global level. A good fraction of those who recognize the magnitude believe the problem is beyond solving, so why bother? These people (sometimes including myself) usually blame shift until the conversation dies and resurrects on the third day. They don’t believe that their decisions as individuals are significant enough to make a difference. In the end, little to nothing is done about the problem. Here’s where sensitization comes in, from policy decisions trickling down to the local level.

Let’s say the government takes the bold decision to ban plastic straws AND to strictly enforce this ban. Some people wonder why, others sort of get the decision. Two positive things could happen if the ban is well enforced:

1. We understand better, the severity and extent of the plastic problem. The “urgent” ban on plastic straws leads us to understand this plastic problem. People who were in the dark see the light now. The ones who downplayed the magnitude of the problem finally come to grips with reality, because there’s a ban in place for obvious reasons. It catches on in the media and spreads like eco-friendly wildfire. Civil society groups and other environmental organizations grab the opportunity and attention to strategically sensitize the public on the bigger picture. Most importantly, we learn a lesson on living without something we could do without. This leads to point 2.
2. This is point 2, obviously. A good number of us become self-aware and actively try to reduce our dependence on other single-use plastics. When we can’t reduce, we reuse. You know, just like what the waste management hierarchy stipulates. Over time, we learn to live without most single-use plastics. Accra becomes clean again. Hashtag MACA.

Now note that I’m not saying plastic straws should be the victim here. That’s just an example and a simple one at that. It could be something more complex, like a policy enforcing the reuse of some disposable plastics which could easily be reusable. Of course, all this could backfire especially if laws aren’t enforced, but I still believe it’s worth trying because one thing it’s definitely better than is inaction. We can’t discount the fact that it will create some tension within the plastic manufacturing and shipping industries. The bigger picture the government should be looking at here is to build a policy framework where it makes more economic sense to deal in the production and importation of sustainable alternatives to plastics. That way, everyone wins.

Just like almost any other environmental issue, the plastic waste problem gets worse by the minute. The problem isn’t on pause waiting for a solution. Plastic waste fragments continually end up in the gutters, the groundwater, the oceans… our diet. Our demand for plastics means the production of these things from unsustainable energy sources. It’s bigger than just pollution. Something must be done. Point is, it’s 2019. We should move past the blame shifting and polarized views and see the best way to kill two birds with a stone. We should have a long-term plan that’s rolled out and monitored over 4-10 years, just in time to reach the sustainable development goal targets for SDGs 3, 6, 14, 15, and more. Beyond trying to be compliant with these targets, we owe it to ourselves to live clean and healthy lives. It doesn’t just end at the four corners of your home. It’s everyone’s problem and affects everyone. We’re all responsible for finding the solution.

Climate Change is real… and so hort?

Sometimes I wonder if the researchers and the media’s inability to unpack and repackage issues of climate change for different target groups is the reason why the topic isn’t as serious a conversation as it should be.

Think about it: beyond “Climate Change is real!” and the natural disasters happening around the world, what aaa do we know chale? Information out there is generally beyond the grasp of the layperson. Can we list the top five highest greenhouse gas emitting industries and the % each industry contributes to these emissions? Can we detail the complex interrelationships between other environmental issues and climate change? Do we know the extent to which these environmental issues like habitat loss or plastic pollution impact the climate? More importantly, do we know which of our consumption habits impact the climate, from the least to the most? Are we aware of the different responsibilities assigned to each target group, from the policy level down to the consumer? Any ideas on the sustainable lifestyle and livelihood alternatives we should explore? How much do we know about ongoing efforts to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change? Etc. Etc.

No, these aren’t for trivia. Every question here matters if we seriously want to change consumption habits as consumers and craft effective messages as advocates. We need local and regional data to tailor messages and apply solutions which suit our geographical and socioeconomic context. Many want to make a difference with activism, but we don’t have the ammo.

I’ve used “we” throughout this thread, but my parents paid my school fees to learn this stuff for 4 years. Now I’m in an organization working on climate change, so yeah I know the answers small small. That one sef, I always find myself learning and unlearning new stuff.

I understand @Oi_Penelope’s question about the “Jesus is coming” people having the same energy for Climate Change. (I couldn’t find the original tweet but I did a good job summarizing it). The difference is the “Jesus is coming” people perfected this campaign over millennia, and their messaging is adequately packaged, well marketed, and aggressively distributed across almost all target groups.

To summarised this rubbish abruptly: if we’re gonna get serious about climate change in these parts, we need to know why we should change, what we need to change, and how we can change. All this in easily accessible and understandable media.

Happy Earth Week,

Edudzi.

Happy Earth Day!

Since today’s earth day- and there’s a chance that you’ve seen between 0 and 2 tweets about this year’s celebration – I’m sharing this with all 6 of you who were curious enough to click the link to this article on my twitter feed. Before we get going, here’s some history about Earth Day.

– The first Earth Day was on April 22, 1970, and has been celebrated every year since.  It was initiated in America, then expanded to over 140 countries 20 years later.
– It’s largely credited for spurring the modern environmental movement.
– I learnt about the above points 5 minutes ago.

This year’s theme is “End Plastic Pollution”, and I’m writing about it because if plastic pollution were human, they’d certainly have a Ghanaian passport. Ghana produces several tonnes of plastic waste annually and recycles only 2% of this waste. The rest of the waste ends up in water bodies, gutters, roads, incinerators, etc. and on a good day, the landfill site where it’ll take some 400 years to decompose into something harmless. Until then, it just piles up daily. The issue with the landfill site is that these plastics may react with other substances to produce and leak toxic substances into groundwater. If you’re in Ghana, there’s a very high chance you have some plastic components in you from drinking water. And if you missed that by sheer luck, it’s probably in the fish or the cow you ate last weekend. But hey, I’m not here to paint a grim picture or ruin your appetite – you can’t not tilapia. We have more than enough people on the internet talking about plastic doomsday. Thanks to them, we all get the point. Sort of.

We’re getting increasingly aware of the issue. Well, that’s what it seems like on Twitter. Outside of twitter, the problems always looks worse than the previous day. Also on twitter, I’ve seen calls for an outright ban on plastics, citing countries like Kenya as a leading example. Everyone seems to be mad at the uncouth people who litter and hey, I get that. Personally, it’s my greatest pet peeve. The problem is, however, all this plus more.

The problem with banning or phasing out plastics is that we’d have to look to another alternative – paper. Paper is made from trees, and Ghana has a big deforestation problem we’re still trying to figure out. Our blessing of being one of the biggest exporters of cocoa in the world is also a curse because we’re clearing the forests to produce more cocoa. And that’s just cocoa. We’re cutting down trees for other reasons I won’t get into.Are we sure we want to add paper to the list? And recycled paper, you say? Well, there’s a reason why recycling isn’t yet a big thing in Ghana. In most cases, recycling is cost ineffective because of all the logistics, labour and other processes that go into it. I’m 100% for recycled paper, but first, we need to iron out the kinks in the production chain.

We’re still mad at the government for not acting. We blame the recycling industry for not doing enough. We‘re disgusted at the guy who rolled down the window of his BMW to throw that polythene bag out. You say he should know better because his car is a clear indication of his education level. Well sorry to deflate your tyres but you and I are a big part of the problem.

The fact that we’re putting that coke bottle into the trash bin doesn’t mean we’re off the butcher’s table. In the waste hierarchy, disposal is the least preferable option because the waste most likely causes environmental damage along the line. We consume and dispose of plastics many times in a day to keep the cycle going. I don’t blame us though. We usually paint plastic material as the evil guy, but how many times have you come across a product that meets our needs as much as plastic does? How often do you get a product that’s durable AND cheap? Plastic isn’t the bad guy. It’s you. It’s me.

 

The Waste Management Hierarchy (source: carbonfootprint.com)

Plastics are mostly designed to be reusable. That was the point of its rise to commercial use after the First World War. So why are we dumping polythene bags to get a new one? Why are we disposing of the coke bottles soon after drinking? Why are you accepting your waakye in 3 polythene bags? Why are we throwing away the Fan Yogo… nah that understandably goes into the bin. It’s a single-use plastic material. All I’m saying is, we need to start practicing the habit of reducing and reusing our plastic products, starting today. Yes, eventually we’ll have to dispose of them, but by reusing these plastics, we delay the disposal time by a significant amount. Significant enough to make a difference. Start reducing and reusing today. If you have zero ideas on how to reuse waste, are you even using Pinterest right? You can do basic stuff if the Pinterest ideas take too much effort and you’re as lazy as I am.  

Reducing your plastic consumption comes first before reusing. I talked about the waakye packaging issue because there’s nothing more common than that. Next time, look out when your waakye is being packaged and tell Hajia you don’t need all that packaging. You don’t need a plastic bag when you buy an electric bulb from a shop. 7 times out of 10, you don’t need that bag, bro. You have pockets and able arms to carry those two things you bought from the shop. Unless it’s t-roll, then you have everyone’s permission to hide it in an opaque plastic bag. You probably have a few recycled paper bags at home too – use them.

In summary, let’s start a new habit today. We will fail sometimes because it takes time for the subconscious brain to accept and practice something as second nature. Let’s drive at failing fewer times than the day before. And the day before that. Let’s get our heads out of the blaming Olympics and be the change we want.

 

Killing Elephants To Conserve Them Isn’t As Dumb As You Think.

Loxodonta africana African elephant Family group drinking at water hole Sub-Sarahan Africa

Disclaimer: In no way am I trying to support the legalisation of this activity. Quite the contrary, actually. I’m only trying to show you why it’s a logical argument in the first place. Let’s begin.

Some months ago, there was news on possibly legalising the importation of trophy-hunted elephant parts into the US, from Zimbabwe and Zambia. People said that it would help in elephant conservation efforts but the entire world seemed to think it was the dumbest thing ever. I mean yeah, how do you kill elephants to keep elephants alive?

Without sounding too technical, let me explain why killing elephants to conserve elephants isn’t such a dumb idea. First I’ll define trophy hunting and conservation in case you didn’t know you didn’t know what they meant. And yes, that was intentional.

Trophy hunting is the hunting of wild animals for fun, and keeping a part of the animal as a “trophy”. Conservation is the sustainable use and management of natural resources. Preservation on the other hand seeks to maintain the current condition of the natural resources. Conservation is our prime focus here. Oh we also need to know why elephants are of importance in the first place. Well, they are keystone species, meaning they’re very important to their environment. Without them “regulating” their environment, some ecosystems would appear entirely different, displacing and affecting other plant and animal species in diverse ways. Some of these species you humans depend on.

The idea is to regulate Trophy killing, meaning it’s only legal after the hunter has obtained an official permit. Trophy hunting as a means of conservation is on the table for discussion simply because it has worked before. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, the elephant population in Zimbabwe grew, largely thanks to trophy hunting. Local communities also benefitted from the revenue generated from regulated trophy hunting. These local communities depended on livelihoods that affected or conflicted with the lives of the elephants. Take farming for example. Elephants fed on these farms in the absence of the farmers, costing them the little they would’ve gained from the farm yield. Farmers were then forced to expand their farmlands – an act that alters and reduces the habitat of the elephant. With revenue generated from regulated trophy hunting, money went into community developmental projects and sustainable alternative livelihoods for the members of these communities. Park rangers who protected these elephants also earned more, reducing their susceptibility to being bribed by poachers.

Today, some communities in Zambia and Zimbabwe face this same old problem. You have to admit that it makes some sense to “control” the elephant population then, especially since they’re in abundance in these countries. It makes some sense to fund alternative livelihood options of these communities, and funding must come from somewhere. Even here in Ghana, I visited a village just after Kakum in the Central Region, where the men were threatening to shoot down all the elephants because the elephants were ruining their farms. These people depend on their farms for everything. I want you to pause for a sec and think of at least one practical solution to this.
…
Exactly, it’s not that simple.

If your solution is to offset this overpopulation by exporting some of these elephants to countries with near-extinct elephant populations, that’s an incredibly expensive task and a logistical nightmare. Just recently, 30 elephants were relocated from one part of Kenya to another part of Kenya at a cost of $6 million dollars. Six million. Just thirty elephants. Intranationally. Hunting down one elephant could cost a hunter up to $50,000, part of which could go into supporting local communities, park rangers and ranchers. Sounds like the way to go.

To this point, I hope the trophy hunting idea isn’t as dumb as you thought it was? Good. Now here’s why it’s still dumb.

The license/ermits system could be a legal and illegal disaster. Legally, it’s almost certain lobbyists will pressurize the local governments to issue an unsustainably high quota of permits. Illegally, well, I’m sure you know – corruption. First of all, there’s the chance that legal permits would be obtained illegally in exchange for some extra cash. Secondly, forgery is likely. Also, revenue generated from the legal permits could fall into the wrong hands. You know this because a portion of the revenue generated from tourism activities around these animals is supposed to go to the local communities, but does it really?

On the side of legislation and law enforcement, legalising trophy hunting and importation will present an extra set of problems in law enforcement. Law enforcement in wildlife conservation is already a big challenge. Many judges do not understand the field of conservation and the ripple effects of losing one species. Prosecutors find it challenging justifying their arguments with the right laws. Police officers and immigration officers are struggling to track and identify parts and products of illegally hunted wildlife. It goes on and on. Legalizing trophy hunting adds another headache in telling the difference between a legally hunted elephant and an illegally hunted one. Traffickers in neighbouring countries are also presented with a fresh opportunity to sneak elephant parts through the borders and manage to secure a (fake) permit before proceeding to export for attractive sums of money.

Speaking of exports, there’s high demand for elephant tusks especially in China and other Asian countries. I say we should think of trying to reduce this demand before doing something which could potentially open the floodgates.

So yeah, while regulated trophy hunting makes sense, a lot could go wrong. The systems currently in place are not convincing enough. Zimbabwe has been plagued with corruption for a while now. First, let’s see proof of the post-Mugabe era committing to improve the standard of living in the local communities. Then let’s have scientists, corruption experts, and law enforcement on board to make a case for or against legalising trophy hunting using relevant data. In the end, wildlife conservation should improve the lives of the local communities and vice versa. Did I get technical?

 

Meet the iPhone SE, or the iPhone Necessary.

SE? Small Edition? Same Everything? 

Apple finally unveiled the 4-inch iPhone SE today and although the rumour mill had been churning possible specs weeks prior to the event, the folks at Cupertino still managed to leave us a bit surprised, and ironically it had nothing to do with innovation.

   

 The iPhone SE is basically an iPhone 6S crammed into the body of an iPhone 5 or 5S. Same processor, same camera, same software features (minus 3D Touch) and even the same 16GB space we love to hate. But of course bigger sizes are on offer! This little fella has Live Photos, yet my iPhone 6 has no idea what that is, but we’re overlooking that for now. Write now, cry in pain later. 

  

You’d wonder, was this release necessary? Well let’s see. I can count 4 groups of iPhone users who don’t own an iPhone 6/6 plus/6S/6S plus;

1. The ones who can’t afford it.

2. The conservative people who prefer the size and/or design of the iPhone 5/5S.

3. “I might as well switch to Android if Apple is going big screen.”

4. ” My iPhone 3GS works just fine.”

Let’s assume group 4 is a lost cause. The iPhone SE has the power and features fitted in the appropriate size and design to appeal to group 2 and a section of the third group. For the first group, the 16GB version of the iPhone SE is going for $399, which is a whole lot less than the price of an iPhone 6S. That’s an offer they don’t need to break bones for. And we’re not even counting the non-iphone guys who might consider spending on such a powerful 4-inch device. 

The phone has absolutely no unique features, and Apple is unapologetic about that. It makes sense entirely, because this is more of an operation to gain more market share and confidence from the board and investors. The iPhone 6S broke sales records everywhere, but the Year-on-year growth was one of the smallest experienced in the history of the iPhone. Analysts are speculating that the iPhone has finally peaked, or perhaps the 6S was not impressive enough. 

I’m yet to find out the iPhone SE’s production cost, but I’m almost certain the profit margin is significantly smaller than the iPhone 6S margin, clearly indicating that profit on this device is not Apple’s priority. They had to find ways and means of winning the others over, and if you ask me, this was the right card. 

Edudzi 
Image credit: The Verge 

Meet the iPhone SE, or the iPhone Necessary.

SE? Small Edition? Same Everything? 

Apple finally unveiled the 4-inch iPhone SE today and although the rumour mill had been churning possible specs weeks prior to the event, the folks at Cupertino still managed to leave us a bit surprised, and ironically it had nothing to do with innovation.

The iPhone SE is basically an iPhone 6S crammed into the body of an iPhone 5 or 5S. Same processor, same camera, same software features (minus 3D Touch) and even the same 16GB space we love to hate. But of course bigger sizes are on offer! This little fella has Live Photos, yet my iPhone 6 has no idea what that is, but we’re overlooking that for now. Write now, cry in pain later. 

You’d wonder, was this release necessary? Well let’s see. I can count 4 groups of iPhone users who don’t own an iPhone 6/6 plus/6S/6S plus;

1. The ones who can’t afford it.

2. The conservative people who prefer the size and/or design of the iPhone 5/5S.

3. “I might as well switch to Android if Apple is going big screen.”

4. ” My iPhone 3GS works just fine.”

Let’s assume group 4 is a lost cause. The iPhone SE has the power and features fitted in the appropriate size and design to appeal to group 2 and a section of the third group. For the first group, the 16GB version of the iPhone SE is going for $399, which is a whole lot less than the price of an iPhone 6S. That’s an offer they don’t need to break bones for. And we’re not even counting the non-iphone guys who might consider spending on such a powerful 4-inch device. 

The phone has absolutely no unique features, and Apple is unapologetic about that. It makes sense entirely, because this is more of an operation to gain more market share and confidence from the board and investors. The iPhone 6S broke sales records everywhere, but the Year-on-year growth was one of the smallest experienced in the history of the iPhone. Analysts are speculating that the iPhone has finally peaked, or perhaps the 6S was not impressive enough. 

I’m yet to find out the iPhone SE’s production cost, but I’m almost certain the profit margin is significantly smaller than the iPhone 6S margin, clearly indicating that profit on this device is not Apple’s priority. They had to find ways and means of winning the others over, and if you ask me, this was the right card. 

Edudzi 

Is MedRx a good shot at m-health? (App Review)

Tons of Ghanaian Apps exist on the super-saturated Appstore and Playstore today, but only a few are defying the odds to be noticed, downloaded and most importantly, used regularly. The most recent one I noticed and downloaded happens to be MedRx, a medical… Hold on let me read the description… an interactive health platform for all users who have health needs. Yes, that’s it.
I decided to use MedRx over a 7-day period for review purposes, and here’s what I have to say. 

MedRx’s decent user interface with the red theme colour, positioning of buttons and general layout makes me believe that it was largely influenced by one of my favourite apps, Quora. For 10MB on iOS and 23MB on Android, the App has quite a lot to offer. It’s easy to sign up and even easier to use. You can either login with a Facebook account or create a MedRx account. You can register as a health professional or choose to be on the receiving end. Once you’re logged in, there’s 5 tabs located at the bottom of the screen, namely; Home, Med Forum, Search, Notifications and More. Let’s take a look at each section.

  
   The Home tab houses the medication session feature, linking users to health professionals who can aid them in locating drugs which are rather scarce on the market. The home tab is quite an odd place for this feature. Shouldn’t “Home” be… Home? Your personal profile? 

  Med Forum is where all the questions and answers are displayed in reverse-chronological order. At the top right corner is the “Ask” button which allows you to post a question either as yourself or under an anonymous profile, in 200 characters or less. Asking a question is easy and straightforward. You have the option to add a picture to help, and you can share your question on Facebook. The ability to choose between using your username or going anonymous isn’t clearly indicated so I’m not surprised when I see users asking the most private questions with their real names beneath. On a more positive side, I asked a question and got two replies in under 24 hours, which is fair enough considering the content of MedRx is largely dependent on crowdsourced input, and this App is yet to gain traction among Ghanaians. Answers should be expandable and readable on the same forum page. Redirecting me to another page to read answers is a chore. As an iPhone user, I’m quite familiar with swiping left to delete something I posted, but I had to go Android style long-pressing on this one. Readers can “like” an answer to reaffirm its credibility.

   200 characters can be a bit restrictive. A suggestion is to maintain the 200-character limit, but optionally allow for a sub-section to elaborate on the question/problem further. This isn’t an issue with the App but I wish medical professionals would give longer answers, detailing the Why’s and the How’s, leaving me with no further questions. 

  

Search is dedicated to locating Health facilities and personnel based on proximity. The health facilities tab is subdivided into Pharmacy, Hospital, Academia and Other. The Health Personnel tab is subdivided into… A lot, from Medical Doctor to Therapist to Psychologist, and all of them have a list of verified and unverified professionals users can follow but for some strange reason can’t interact with. A verified professional is indicated by a blue badge so it’s easy to know who to trust. Their credentials, however, could be a bit more detailed and specific. 

  The FIRST thing I tested was its ability to work in offline mode, and YES it did! Well just the Health personnel Tab. I had access to all these medical practitioners while in airplane mode with the only downside being that their contact information was not listed. The Health Facilities should also be accessible offline. The app should cache the lists after the first open for easy offline access on subsequent occasions.

  

 It’s either my proximity sensor is broken or the MedRx team has to tweak the geolocating system. I asked for a pharmacy nearby (Cape Coast) and the closest pharmacy it could fetch me was 94.99km away in Akim Oda.And when I searched for a pharmacy, the page just went blank. I couldn’t tell if it couldn’t return any results or it was still searching. 

  Under Academia, MedRx suggested 4 universities. Congratulations to UG medical school for being the only listed Africa-based University. 
 

I love that there’s an option to view a location on the map, but it would be more helpful if turn-by-turn navigation was on offer. A hand from Google Maps, maybe? My last issue with this section is a minor bug; the App tends to freeze when I open the Hospital tab and try to exit. 

  

The Notifications tab serves its purpose flawlessly. I get banner notifications when I’m out of the app and these remain logged in the notifications tab as expected. That’s “notifications” used too many times in one paragraph. Moving on…

  

“Other” is basically the profile, edit, settings, support, invite, about and logout page. If I had my way, the Med Forum would share a room with the Medication Sessions and the user profiles can migrate to its rightful home – the Home tab. 

  The profile pages are as empty as a haunted mansion. I was expecting to see user interests, shared posts, contacts and other relevant estate-occupying information but none of these existed. A future update should include these additions. 

Currently, MedRx is a “Help Me” App as I’d like to call it. Categorizing the questions and enabling users to subscribe can make it both a “Help Me” App and a curiously-quelling platform. The search bar should also allow users look for pre-existing questions. That, in my opinion, should help MedRx gain active users, because who wants an App taking space when it only comes in handy when they’re in need? A website version of the app should exist for people who wouldn’t want a dedicated app sitting on their homescreen. It’s hard convincing people to download apps these days. 

I don’t think it’s a crime for team MedRx to flood the platform with FAQs on health, making the App a bit more active and attractive. Do it do it do it! No one’s watching! 

In summary, I think MedRx is a helpful App with some kinks left to be worked out. I’m keeping it not because I enjoy using it at the moment, but because I’m hopeful the future updates will be nothing short of satisfactory. The m-health industry is set to be a multi-billion dollar industry within the next few years so this is definitely a step in the right direction.

It’s available on the Google Playstore and the Appstore.

Edudzi

PS: I had a Medical App idea with all these features plus three more. I wrote it down 2 years ago but I… Never mind, I just thought you should know. 

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4 reasons Kanye West isn’t getting $1 Billion from Mark Zuckerberg

Annoying or entertaining, you’ve got to admit checking Kanye’s activities on social media is a daily routine now. From being his feud with Wiz Khalifa to his usual cocky rants to his debts and most recently, the price of textbooks. But the one that caught our attention most is his plea for a billion dollars from Mark Zuckerberg. Kanye wants to make the world a better place and he needs $1 billion to do that. From his Donda Chart you can tell how diverse the rapper can get. Overambitious or not, you have to admire Kanye’s drive for perfection when it comes his music production, stage performances and maybe fashion. It should be interesting to see how he can extend this strength and be impactful in the other fields listed on the Donda Chart. If Kanye were a synonym for overambitious, asking for a billion was the most Kanye moment of being Kanye. 

We all know Kanye isn’t getting a billion dollars from Mark, but do we know why attracting the investment is unlikely? Here’s why Kanye isn’t getting a billion dollars from the founder of Facebook:

  

1. Mark Zuckerberg on my last check had personally invested in 4 different organizations on 5 different occasions and 3 of them were education-related. MasteryConnect and Altschool are focusing on breaking from the traditional educational systems which have been in existence since the industrial revolution in the 18th Century because clearly, the world is changing. Paranoma Education is a data analytics system which uses feedback from students, teachers, administrators and the immediate environment to evaluate and make education more effective. These ventures are nothing short of unconventional, and based on Mr. West’s Donda chart, his plans for education seem quite mainstream, unless there’s more to it not written on the summary chart. So far we only know about his desire to reduce the price of textbooks.

Vicarious is the only non-educational business Mark Zuckerberg has invested his personal wealth in if we’re not counting charity. Vicarious develops a visual perception system that interprets the content of photographs and videos, like how the human brain works. 

2. You can tell there’s a trend with ventures Mark Zuckerberg throws Facebook’s cash at. Instagram, WhatsApp, Project Aquila, Internet.org etc. are proven potential for fetching large pools of data to improve Facebook’s “based on relevance to the user” system. They all fit the puzzle. Project Aquila is Mark Zuckerberg’s attempt at providing Internet via solar-powered drones to billions who have no access to the Internet. Internet.org provides basic Internet services like Facebook for free. Not so diverse from Mark; they all point back to one thing. His key reason for purchasing Oculus VR was basically to make it the virtual Facebook. The Donda Chart seems to have every industry represented on it, but have any of them proven to be a potential source of solid help for Facebook, or philanthropy which is also something the Facebook founder is passionate about? And even if it is, is it worth a billion dollars?

3. Facebook is a public company. The board and investors would almost certainly drag their feet if the Kanye discussion came up.  

4. Mark Zuckerberg pledged to give 99% of his wealth to charity. Kanye West is worth over $100 million dollars. Kanye West is not charity. 99% of $48.2 billion (Zuckerberg’s net worth) is $47.7 billion which leaves less than a billion to spare even if he just wanted to donate to Kanye. You stand a better chance of securing that much from the oil-rich Arabs, Ye. They’re running out of things to spend their billions on. 

Also because of this…

  

Mark Zuckerberg’s birthday is in May, Ye.