Precious Lunga

Dr Precious Lunga[2] (born 4 October 1974)[3] is a Zimbabwean epidemiologist, entrepreneur, and CEO/co-Founder of Baobab Circle. Between 2017 and 2018, she created Afya Pap, a mobile app offering personalized health education and coaching on chronic diseases.[4][5] The app is used across seven countries in Africa, including Kenya and Uganda.[6][4][7]

Dr Precious Lunga
Born (1974-10-04) 4 October 1974
Bulawayo, Rhodesia
Alma materUniversity of Edinburgh
University of Cambridge
Occupation(s)Epidemiologist, business executive, entrepreneur
OrganizationBaobab Circle[1]
Spouse
​
(m. 2010)​
Children1

As Head of Health at Econet Wireless in 2015, Lunga launched a 24/7 dial-a-doctor service in partnership with the Ministry of Health in Zimbabwe to reach over 750,000 paying patients within a year of launch.[8][9]

Lunga is a Yale World Fellow and was featured as a speaker at the Southbank Centre's Women of the World Festival in London.[10][11]

Early life

Precious Lunga was born in Bulawayo in what was then Rhodesia (now called Zimbabwe), and grew up there until the age of 17, when she went to Britain to study.[3] She attended the University of Edinburgh, graduating in 1998 with a degree in neuroscience. She then earned a PhD in neuroscience in 2003 from the University of Cambridge, where she was also captain of the women's karate team.[12]

Career

After her neuroscience doctorate, Lunga began research and development in novel therapies for repairing central nervous system damage in collaboration with GlaxoSmithKline for the Brain Repair Centre at the University of Cambridge. She went on to become a founding member for EUROPRISE, a consortium of HIV vaccine and microbicide researchers working in industry and public institutions. She has worked with UNAIDS Geneva, and participated in anti-HIV microbicide trials led by the Medical Research Council (United Kingdom), where she now sits on the Board.[13] She joined Econet in 2013 to establish their health business unit before leaving in 2016 to start Baobab Circle, developing Afya Pap, an award-winning platform that delivers localised and personalised health advice to users via mobile phones. The app was featured in a BBC Business interview,[14] and in 2018 won the AppsAfrica award.[15]

Appearances

Lunga has appeared at the Financial Times Africa Summit,[16] hosted a TEDx talk in 2015[17] and was invited as a guest for the BBC Radio 4 series Great Lives.[18] She has panelled the Woman of the World Festival and was a speaker on the Forum radio programme for the BBC.[19] She appeared as a speaker at the 5th annual Davenport Cook Lecture at Yale University, where she is a World Fellow,[10] and has been interviewed by the New Statesman.[3] In 2019, she was listed in New African's 100 most influential Africans.[20]

Personal life

In 2010, Lunga married Jon Snow, the journalist and former Channel 4 news anchor.[21] They had a son together through surrogacy, in March 2021.[22]

References
  1. "Baobab Circle". Baobab Circle. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  2. "Fireside chat with Dr Annalisa Jenkins, Dr Precious Lunga and Professor Peter Piot". LSHTM. Retrieved 15 January 2023.
  3. Lewis, Helen (9 June 2011). "Precious Lunga, Epidemiologist". New Statesman. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  4. "'AfyaPap' app introduced to help manage diabetes". BiztechAfrica. 8 March 2017. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  5. "Baobab Circle". afyapap.com. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  6. "Baobab Circle". www.baobabcircle.com. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  7. "AFYA Mobile App to help Ugandans manage diabetes". New Vision. 29 February 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  8. "Econet's dial-a-doctor service goes live in Zimbabwe". IT Web. 11 February 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  9. "Precious Lunga | Yale Greenberg World Fellows". worldfellows.yale.edu. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  10. "Precious Lunga | Yale World Fellows Program". worldfellows.yale.edu. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  11. "WATCH: Women Of The World Festival In London Celebrates Achievement, Potential Of Women". HuffPost. 15 March 2011. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  12. "Dr. Precious Lunga". The Africa Debate. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  13. "New Appointments to the MRC's Council". Medical Research Council UKRI. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  14. "An App for Managing Chronic Health Conditions". BBC News. 13 March 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  15. "Awards Winners 2018 Announced". AppsAfrica.com. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  16. Pilling, David (18 May 2020). "AI in Africa Healthcare Falls Short of Potential". Financial Times. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  17. "If you can't get a hospital - get a phone | Precious Lunga | TEDxEastEnd". 23 February 2015. Retrieved 18 June 2020 – via YouTube.
  18. "Scientist Precious Lunga Chooses Wangari Maathai". Great Lives. BBC Radio 4. 20 December 2020. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  19. "The Forum". BBC World Service. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  20. Versi, Anver (2020). "100 Most Influential Africans". New African Magazine. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  21. Langley, William (26 June 2010). "Jon Snow: married in Mustique". The Telegraph. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  22. Southern, Keiran (8 March 2021). "News presenter Jon Snow, 73, announces baby news". Yahoo news. Retrieved 13 March 2021.
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