24/03/2023
Hello! I wanted to introduce you to the amazing people that we are working to help. MDBX solves a problem that I've seen countless times over in the past ten years, a problem that steals years, lives, the people we love, our neighbors and the ability to live without pain.
I can't count the hours that I've spent playing cards, carrom and drinking coffee with UAEs wisest, most frail and determined. These people are incredible, they've taught me to brush my teeth with miswak grown in their garden, invited me warmly into their homes where they are immobilized in a single room because of their health. Rooms where they fade quietly away, day by day.
They talk about driving from Dubai to Abu Dhabi in the 1960s, waiting for the tide to go out, just to get onto Abu Dhabi island. They have so many stories of rich lives, full of love, adventure, memories of selves less frail, more able, and full of dreams.
They, in a sweeping gesture, have shown me the dozens and dozens of boxes and bottles of meds, a permanent fixture lined up on the coffee table. Hundreds of drugs that they need to stay alive, each type in their own child-safe bottles - nigh on impossible for stiff fingers to open.
They say "This is no life". I know what they're thinking when they look me in the eye. I've seen it too many times before. It's too hard. They want to give up. They're searching for a solution they know will never come.
Unlike the help, the drugs do come, like the tide - every month. They overflow in baskets by the door. Managed properly, they control the pain, reduce disease progression, bring comfort and years. Taken improperly, they debilitate, exasperate and kill.
As it stands, they are impossible to manage properly. Desperate, many of these people arbitrarily choose which med helps the most and focus on taking that one correctly.
70% of chronically ill UAE residents fail to manage their meds. Despite chronic disease being largely manageable through medication it still causes 77% of all UAE deaths.
I've watched their adult children leaving work twice a day to visit, sort the meds, install hired help. Detached from the care plan, compromised by time and commitments, I've watched their hearts break as they realize they simply can't provide the support they need and want to give. They can't always be there.
Eventually, their loved ones give up and the 77% statistic stands, bolstered by people with huge histories, accomplishments and amazing stories. It shouldn't be this hard.
At the heart of MDBX, is the premise that it shouldn't be this hard. The solution is not rocket science. Simplify the drugs. Leverage technology to activate the support network.
Our model is built around 1) distilling the meds - literally no bottles, jars or thought required, and 2) connecting the kids, the friends and the patient and his caregivers.
MDBX is a critical necessity, and our mission is clear; empower these people with the tools that they need to survive.
