Vula Medical Wins 2025 App Of The Year Award: Interview With Dr William Mapham

Vula Medical Wins 2025 App Of The Year Award: Interview With Dr William Mapham. Dr William Mapham has emerged as one of Africa’s leading health-technology innovators, transforming how frontline workers access specialist support through Vula Medical. What began with the challenges he faced while working in rural Swaziland has evolved into a platform used in more than 2 300 facilities across 76 specialties, reducing unnecessary patient travel and strengthening clinical decision-making. For Dr Mapham, an early milestone, reaching 100 000 patients, proved that a simple, user-focused digital tool could meaningfully change healthcare delivery. Today, Vula’s impact is supported by strong data-security standards, a dedicated support team, and growing recognition, including the FNB App of the Year Award. In this interview, we are going to discuss Vula’s growth, its role in reshaping healthcare access, the challenges of digital adoption in rural settings, and Dr Mapham’s long-term vision for expanding care across Africa. Read about it below!

Vula Medical has facilitated more than 2.5 million patient referrals — what milestone are you most proud of in this journey?

It was a long time ago, but reaching 100,000 patients was a major milestone. We didn’t think we would get there…

What inspired you to turn your rural healthcare challenges in Swaziland into a digital solution?

Easiest way to describe is to see this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ilXDD3sTlAU

or the feature on the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/health-31877594

Nearly 30% of patients avoid unnecessary travel because of Vula — how does this impact the healthcare system in the long term?

See the Theory of Change with references: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UVh_qNbIvCNTtTZm5h7Wp2mcC93MO-cn/view?usp=sharing

For an academic view: https://www.vulamedical.com/stories/backed-by-research-all-studies-involving-vula

How do you ensure patient data privacy and security across public and private facilities?

Please see attached. – For all detail, please see the links at the bottom of the website: https://www.vulamedical.com/

What categories of healthcare workers are you seeing the most growth in on the platform?

Growing number of specialists and specialties. 76 specialties and counting now including allied health workers.

AI adoption is rising in health tech — how is Vula leveraging or planning to leverage AI?

We have done some experiments with clinical AI tools and have a support AI called Freddie.

What were some early obstacles you encountered when trying to introduce digital tools into rural healthcare settings?

Behaviour change in the health sector is a challenge. The usability of the tech and how it fits seamlessly into clinical processes is key. Only when we solved a major problem, while making it easy to use did Vula gain traction. However, 12 years later, we are still learning and making improvements.

With over 2 300 facilities using Vula, how do you manage scale and support?

We have 365 days a year 8am – 5pm support. Although we do help health workers who call after hours. We have a dedicated team of 10 people constantly supporting health workers. Most of our work can be done remotely, which helps with scaling.

What does winning the FNB App of the Year Award mean for Vula Medical’s future expansion?

The FNB award is an incredible recognition for the Vula Team. The award is dedicated to the health workers at the frontline who are working day to night to serve their patients. Going forward the attention will help us reach more health workers and give us an opportunity to work with more people in more places.

What are your long-term goals for improving healthcare access across Africa?

We are part of the Health Tech Hub in Kigali, and have worked in several countries including Zambia, Lesotho, Ethiopia and Ghana. We are keen to go where we are needed.