Last month we have received the happy news that the registration of our new legal entity in Africa is official! It’s about time we get to meet the team and hear about their plans. We are very proud to introduce Anna Theuvenet and Oscar Ssuna Walugembe who will be heading our new ProDiag Africa office in Uganda.

The African Team
Anna, Business Development Manager, has a legal background and will be in charge of establishing a firm base for the business in Africa. She used to work within several non-profit and development organizations. Oscar will be in charge of the sales activities of ProDiag Africa, he has a very broad background in marketing, sales and event management and has connections all over the African continent. Oscar: “I’m passionate to help better the lives of people who are less privileged, and I feel like we can make a difference in people’s lives with the products ProDiag is offering.”.

Expanding to Africa
Expending the business to Africa made sense as ProDiag’s CEO, Anton Pruijssers, used to work there. Like Anna, he has a lot of connections within several non-profit and development organizations. Anna adds: “with our combined experiences, the lessons we’ve learned in the past and ProDiag’s infectious disease portfolio, we can make a difference for the African population.”. Currently, the vaccinations in Africa against COVID-19 are running far behind compared to the rest of the world, so testing is even more important to overcome spreading of the corona virus. Oscar: “Our main focus right now is to facilitate the re-opening of different sectors and thereby managing the virus in as many African countries as possible.”. Anna adds: “In Uganda the schools have been closed since the beginning of the pandemic last year. Currently, we are investigating with local partners how we can help safely re-open the schools in Uganda.”.

ProDiag offers a broad range of tests against different infectious diseases, including COVID-19. Due to the pandemic, the demand for COVID-19 diagnostics is high. While meeting the current demand, the team is also looking out for the future. Anna and Oscar are aiming high: they would like to play a role in transforming the health sector in Africa and making essential diagnostics available for everyone. Self-testing could play a major role in this, Oscar adds: “with self-testing we could overcome the silent killers; use real time testing and a simple diagnostic process to give people information about their health and prevent further spread of infectious diseases.”. The team is therefore looking for sustainable partners with a long-term focus on infectious diseases.

Helping the whole population
It makes sense that ProDiag Africa will be looking out for the whole population: not only will they help make professional equipment available at local hospitals and health centers, they will also make sure that simple, affordable diagnostics will become available for the general public. Anna and Oscar add: “Not only for elderly, but also for the African youth it is extremely important to manage their health. We know that this population is very self-conscious about health and well-being, but they do not always have access to the necessary tools to help them keep their health in check.”. Oscar emphasizes: “We are not here to help just one sector, we are here to help all!”, he adds: “We have a major interest in improving the standards of living and are open to collaborate with everyone who shares the same interest.”.

Interested to learn more? Contact the African office directly:

info@prodiag.nl
Munyonyo, Kampala, Uganda