Fighting Vaccine Fraud, AI in Africa, and Female Mentorship

Diana Mandewo is a Wadham graduate student taking the MSc in Applied Digital Health. Her studies have been generously supported by a Wadham Beit Scholarship in partnership with the Beit Trust. With a background in both medicine and entrepreneurship, Diana took part in our Women in Science & Entrepreneurship panel earlier in the year. We caught up with Diana to hear more about her unique journey to Wadham, and her interest in digital health.

Good question! Digital health is the way that technology can be used to ensure people’s wellbeing and increase healthcare access. At its core, it’s about humans, not technology. When digital tools are applied well, they are sensitive to the context of the people they are designed for.

I got involved in digital health after studying medicine at the University of Zimbabwe. I worked for digital health firm, VaxiGlobal as Director of Communications. We introduced electronic health records for vaccinations that were linked to biometrics. During Covid, we partnered with a number of African governments and had a lot of success. I’m still involved with major decision-making at VaxiGlobal, but more so in the background while I work on my studies.

Later, I worked as an emergency doctor in the largest hospital in the country, in Harare. There, I was part of the team that introduced the hospital’s tele-medicine centre. This was a partnership with the country’s Ministry of Health that allowed patients to get virtual consultations rather than having to travel to the capital city.

Although I had practical experience, I could never pinpoint what made certain digital health projects work. What were we doing right when they were successful, and what were we doing wrong when they failed? I wanted a deeper understanding.

What I liked about the MSc in Applied Digital Health at the University of Oxford is that it treated digital health as a tool to be focused on the people it’s being developed for. The emphasis wasn’t on developing just another app.

I was fortunate to come to Oxford through the Wadham Beit Scholarship. Even though I had the credentials and a place, I couldn’t have funded my tuition and stay without the scholarship. I’m very grateful to the Beit Scholarship and the community! They really helped me settle in, and we have regular check-ins.

I also love Wadham. Coming from Zimbabwe, there were a lot of culture shocks coming to the UK, but Wadham was very welcoming. There’s a genuine curiosity we all have about each other. You go to the MCR and everyone is having a good time, but also taking care of each other and checking in. It’s felt like another family apart from the one I have back home.

Also, when I first read that Wadham was started by a woman, I thought, “Yes, thanks—I’ll be there!”

I’m definitely interested in applications of AI. As a doctor, I don’t think AI will replace physicians. Human agency and decision-making should be at the forefront. But it can make the process faster, more efficient, and data-driven.

People often ask why AI should be used in Africa when some more basic healthcare structures are lacking. But I think that’s a failure of imagination. There are ways to use digital health systems creatively for the context we’re in.

Some creative applications of AI include AI-assisted ultrasound scanning for women in rural areas. It sends information to obstetricians remotely to speed up decision-making. With satellite networks and increased mobile penetration, this is feasible.

There’s also AI that helps triage women and sends SMS reminders for hospital visits. It’s an automated system that doesn’t require manual input. We’ve looked at AI for electronic health records—automatic scribes that create digital records instead of paper ones.

We can also use AI for facial recognition biometrics. These systems can help displaced people and refugees who lack legal documentation. Using facial recognition, you can create a digital ID for accessing loans and services where paper documentation is lacking. There are 500 million refugees in Africa, so this has wide application in education, finance, and healthcare.

When vaccine fraud occurs, you have people who are not inoculated being recorded as if they are. This puts everyone at risk because national statistics become unreliable. You can’t get an accurate sense of national immunity-levels. This is especially dangerous for infectious diseases, and it affects the globe. During Covid, we saw how interconnected the world is—disease insecurity anywhere affects everyone.

In my work during Covid, we wanted to ensure that vaccination records were accurate. Paper-based systems in Africa are vulnerable to tampering, loss, and even being sold. We introduced biometrically certified health records so that vaccination data is immutable and equitable. This sort of systems helps identify where efforts should be concentrated and where vaccines are lacking.

My immediate plan is to start an MBA. I want to transition into investor relations and eventually start my own VC firm to increase access to funding—especially for women. The funding gap between male and female founders in Africa is estimated at $42 billion by the IFC.

As a female business leader, I’ve faced unnecessary roadblocks in accessing funding and mentorship. The problem is twofold: it’s hard to get into the room, and women often doubt themselves even when they’re well-prepared. There’s a need for mentorship that builds confidence and readiness.

One of the things I’ve gained from Wadham is my mentor, Professor Monika Gullerova. When we first met, she asked, “What are you trying to do with your life?” I hadn’t had anyone ask me that before. Her understanding of business and being a woman has been invaluable. Sometimes we have conversations that feel like they wouldn’t be possible elsewhere.

She’s supported me without trying to make me a “mini-me,” and that’s been invaluable.

Wadham is a good college. People should come to Wadham!