MAfya health consulting inc

29/01/2026

4 Ways Health Care Providers Can Protect Data Privacy
Guest feature from the team behind the Euki App

Daily observances are not usually our thing, but in the wake of increasing digital privacy violations related to reproductive health care, we felt compelled to address the importance of protecting patient privacy on Data Protection Day – a.k.a. Data Privacy Day.

Today as people face the possibility of criminalization for their pregnancy outcomes in several US states, data protection is more important than ever. Even in restrictive settings, providers have an opportunity and a responsibility to support patients’ reproductive health data privacy and autonomy. Here are 4 ways to do that.



1. Know your technology.

Part of caring for your patients is taking steps to secure their health data. Start with these key practices:

Communicate with patients via end-to-end encrypted (E2EE) messaging platforms like Signal or an E2EE electronic medical record system.
Collect only data you really need, particularly when it comes to intake forms on online scheduling platforms. Have a protocol in place to clean and delete unnecessary data.
Familiarize yourself with the privacy policies of vendors or platforms you work with— including those that use artificial intelligence (AI)— regarding your clinic’s control of patient data, storage and deletion practices, and disclosure practices if they receive a subpoena. (Will they inform you? Will they make an effort to protect the data?)
For specialized support, the Digital Defense Fund offers security and technology resources to “all movements working alongside one another for autonomy and liberation.” There are also new companies like aboboTech, building privacy-first, highly configurable clinic management software specifically designed for and with input from independent clinics.



2. Know your rights and mandatory reporting requirements.

Given the current patchwork of state laws, it is no surprise that many health care providers have doubts about what to report to state authorities or law enforcement. This sometimes leads to overreporting and contributes to the dangerous problem of pregnancy criminalization. If/When/How offers resources for providers, including state-specific mandatory reporting fact sheets.

It is also critical for health care facilities to know their rights when it comes to ICE, including how to identify a warrant. Physicians for Reproductive Health offers a practical toolkit in English and Spanish to help protect patients and staff.



3. Know the risks and the resources.

In an age of growing digital surveillance, privacy risks can take so many forms. Your patients’ privacy may be at risk when they:

access the internet,
search online,
communicate via social media or certain messaging tools,
schedule an appointment,
use apps including most period trackers,
drive to a health care facility, or
pay for health care.
Digital privacy violations can lead to personal or legal harm, including intimate partner violence, coercion, civil penalties, and criminalization. While reproductive health tools like period tracking apps may carry particular risks for data privacy, even a tool like a map app can put patients accessing care at risk. Empower your patients to control their data without compromising their health by making sure they’re aware of tools like the Euki app or Drip for period and health tracking.

Great information resources include Euki’s digital privacy zine in English and Spanish, the Va**na Privacy Network (VPN) guide, developed by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) with MSI Reproductive Choices, and EFF’s Surveillance Self-Defense guide with comprehensive “tips, tools, and how-tos for safer online communications.”



4. Know your patient.

Every patient is unique, with different goals, needs, and risks. When it comes to protecting our privacy, there is no one size fits all recommendation. Factors that may affect a patient’s risk of criminalization and surveillance include age, disability, gender, race, sexuality, citizenship status, family and social dynamics, financial resources, geographic location, and prior experiences with the criminal justice system. Ask your patient about their particular concerns and challenges, then share the resources and recommendations that best apply to their unique situation.

The right to privacy – including digital privacy – is essential to self-determination. For all of us who care deeply about reproductive health and equity, it is more important than ever to work together to protect that right, today and every day.

08/01/2026

DR Omar Abdihamid just published an overview of cancer care Kenya.Cancer care has expanded through regional centres in kenya, but oncological emergencies remain under-recognized and under-prepared for. Our paper calls for national emergency oncology guidelines, training, and system readiness to save lives and improve equity in cancer care

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30/12/2025

Holiday heart syndrome is a condition with a short-term abnormal heart rhythm (arrhythmia). It happens after people have multiple drinks with alcohol in them. Treatments are available. People usually recover in a day, but holiday heart can be dangerous if it causes a stroke or other complications.

15/11/2025

"Fat-free" on the label means you're eating more sugar.

The food industry replaced fat with refined carbs to maintain taste.

This swap made obesity rates skyrocket, not drop.

What actually happened:

→ Low-fat products add sugar to compensate for flavor loss
→ Fat keeps you full longer—removing it increases hunger
→ Your body needs fat to absorb vitamins A, D, E, and K

Choose unsaturated fats like olive oil, avocados, and nuts over processed low-fat alternatives.

Fat doesn't make you fat—excess refined carbs do.

Stop fearing fat and start reading ingredient lists instead.

09/06/2025

Antibody-drug conjugates are poised to reshape standards of care across several diseases.

At hashtag , we’ll see results from highly awaited trials in breast, gastric, lung, GU oncology and beyond.

08/06/2025

Asymptomatic patients with ATTR cardiac amyloid infiltration and grade 2 or 3 myocardial uptake have established cardiomyopathy, faster rates of disease progression, HF hospitalization and CV mortality. https://ja.ma/4jI9U5j

20/04/2025

Chronic stress speeds up aging by shortening telomeres, the protective caps on your DNA. Practices like meditation, deep breathing, and mindfulness can stabilize telomeres and improve cellular repair. Calm your mind to rejuvenate your body!

23/02/2025

Cardiogenic shock

08/02/2025

Cushing's Triad vs. Beck's Triad. I've seen these two often mentioned together, usually about the differences. They are different compensations by the body, both due to swelling or pressure.

Cushing's Triad involves intracranial pressure that is compressing the brain. The body responds by trying to force more blood and oxygen to the brain to support it.

The sudden higher blood pressure triggers the vagus nerve, which slows down the heart rate. It's weird, because you usually expect blood pressure and heart rate to go up together.

Beck's Triad involves cardiac tamponade, or fluid buildup in the pericardium of the heart, which compresses the heart. This squeezing reduces blood return to the heart, which means lower blood pressure.

The heart tries to pump faster to make up for the less blood.

Stroke volume (x) heart rate = cardiac output

02/02/2025

Myocardial infarction or, heart attack, is a problem with blood circulation to the heart, while cardiac arrest is an electrical issue that stops the heart from pumping blood altogether. Both need urgent attention, but they require different treatments. The terms heart attack and cardiac arrest are often confused, but they are very different conditions with distinct causes, symptoms, and treatments.

Myocardial infarction or heart attack happens when there’s a blockage in a coronary artery, often caused by a blood clot, stopping blood flow to the heart muscle. This leads to damage or death of part of the heart tissue.

The main signs are chest pain, shortness of breath, and sometimes nausea, dizziness, or pain radiating to the arm, neck, or jaw. The heart keeps beating, but the blood flow is reduced, affecting the heart’s pumping ability.

Immediate treatment aims to restore blood flow—usually through medication or procedures like angioplasty or stenting. With timely treatment (angioplasty, medications), survival rates are high, but some may develop heart failure or arrhythmias long-term. 5-year survival rate is about 80-90% for those without severe complications.

Cardiac arrest occurs when the heart stops beating due to a sudden electrical problem that causes an abnormal rhythm (like ventricular fibrillation). The heart can no longer pump blood, leading to a lack of oxygen to the body and brain.

It happens suddenly, with collapse, loss of consciousness, and no pulse. The person is usually unresponsive and not breathing.

Immediate CPR and defibrillation are necessary to restart the heart. Without quick intervention, death can happen in minutes. Survival chances improve with fast action but neurological damage is a concern if the brain is starved of oxygen for too long. Survival rate for out-of-hospital arrest is around 10-12%.

Understanding these differences can help guide timely action and improve patient outcomes. Early intervention is critical for both.

02/02/2025

What's next for USAID? I revisited the Project 2025 chapter on USAID, to see if it might shed light on priorities in the coming months for new Administration.

*Key things it advocates for (that have not already happened):*
- The opening paragraph explicitly refers to making the US *safer* and *more prosperous*, and implicity, *safer* too.
- Budgets "need to return to pre-COVID levels";
- "Gender" to be refocused on "women, children and families";
- GH portfolio to refocus on building a comprehensive - not a stovepiped - approach to women, children and families;
- "Building host country capacity" is a clear priority;
- An increase in awards to local and "particularly faith based" NGOs, noting that PEPFAR _"has shown that localization at scale is possible within a short time span .. [increasing] the amount of funding disbursed to local entities from about 25 percent to nearly 70 percent with positive overall results. This model should be replicated across all of USAID."_
- Project 2025 suggests that USAID should leverage Presidential Initiatives (presumably PMI and PEPFAR) to facilitate "a smooth transition [of these] to national ownership and funding";
- Under the "Humanitarian Assistance" section, the same sentiment is clear, where it describes the need for a _"Transition from large awards to expensive, inefficient, and corrupt U.N. agencies, global NGOs, and contractors to local, especially faith-based, entities that are already operating on the ground."_
- Drawing in private sector engagement is a recurrent theme.

Then I looked at what are the priorities for domestic health agencies (that might impact USAID) in Chapter 14 of Project 2025. Here's a few of the specific and/or recurrent themes:
- Project 2025 advocated for CDC into two entities, one for epidemiological data and the other for policy and advice;
- NIH might see its role diminish, with grant funding potentially shifting to State level;
- The document makes clear that transparency and accountability are core pillars of what it expects to see in public health. This will span from being clear about the thresholds for declaring (and ending) public health emergencies, right through to staff being willing to promote a pro-life and pro-family agenda and being replaced if they are unable, or unwilling to do so;
- For family planning, there would be a clear and consistent shift across multiple agencies, to accept and promote modern “Fertility-awareness Based Methods” (FABMs) as effective methods. Meanwhile "Sexual Risk Avoidance", which promotes delay, and the importance of relationships and family values, is also a proposed theme across multiple agencies.

No crystal ball here, just looking at what's in the public domain.

29/12/2024

A $30B platform with 1B users just became the internet's biggest cringe factory.

I analyzed LinkedIn's 10-person executive team: Only 3 post regular insights. 2 have never posted. The rest share occasional announcements or AI-generated content. A platform built on the promise of professional authenticity, yet 70% of its own leaders don't authentically engage.

In 2017, I met a senior Coke executive. Before our meeting, he cracked open a Coke Zero and offered me one. That moment stayed with me - here was a leader who lived his product daily.

But here's where it gets fascinating.

Today's LinkedIn feed is a wasteland of manufactured authenticity:

- AI-generated fluff pretending to be wisdom
- 'Honored, humbled, pleased to announce...' (as perfectly captured)
- Mindless motivational posts about hustle and grinding
- Engagement-bait copied straight from TikTok/Reels
- Real thought leadership? The algorithm killed it

No wonder r/LinkedInLunatics has grown to 700K members, becoming one of Reddit's most popular communities dedicated to documenting LinkedIn cringe.

When LinkedIn pivoted their business model from advertising to 'content' in 2017, they had something special - a space where bold ideas could advance industries without descending into trolling. Instead, they built an algorithm that rewards performative authenticity over real insights.

X, for all its chaos, has industry leaders sharing raw, often provocative viewpoints that actually make you think. Meanwhile, LinkedIn has become a graveyard of buzzwords and humble-brags.

The path forward is obvious:

1. LinkedIn's Leaders must live in their product's reality daily
2. Success should be measured beyond just engagement metrics
3. Start optimizing for genuine thought leadership
4. Prioritize authentic insights over AI-generated content

What if LinkedIn stopped asking 'What drives engagement?' and started asking 'What drives understanding?'

That's not a metric problem. That's a meaning crisis.