Desire Ruhinda

Desire’s interest in social and inclusive work began during his undergraduate studies. In his second year of Medical school at the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical University, he was motivated to help the community tackle the lack of awareness, accessibility and ignorance of healthy habits that resulted in most non-communicable diseases (NCDs) - he did this through Kilisports, an organisation that promotes a healthy lifestyle through active sports participation and healthcare accessibility, by facilitating social events that provided one-on-one sessions with doctors on how to tackle common root causes of non-communicable diseases. 

After graduating medical school in 2019 he concluded that he would save more lives and help the bigger population through tackling the source of the problem. Desire is now the co-founder of Medikea, a health technology start-up that helps patients remotely locate physicians, book appointments and order discounted medications, offering access to healthcare. His search for more inclusive, accessible and sustainable ways of healthcare delivery to the African population, is his core motive towards pursuing the MPhil program.