With the emergence of COVID-19 in 2020, telehealth services have surged globally. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in the United States, March to June of 2020 saw an increase of 766% in all telehealth services. Since then, the percentage of physicians who have opted in using telemedicine has grown to 88% and with every industry on the upswing, marginalized communities were being left behind. However, it took a few who recognized the need and were equipped with the knowledge to build out infrastructures to lead the charge in creating telehealth platforms that provided care to Black and Brown communities.
While on vacation with family in Mali, Mariam Diakité visited a clinic and saw the lack of care provided to some of the patients without the ability to pay. She witnessed a man being hassled for payment while his pregnant wife awaited a C-section.
“The time that they spend delaying because of payment, a life could be lost or another complication could arise,” says Diakité. She said she noticed how hard it was for people to see a doctor without money. It was something that didn’t sit well with her. During this same trip, she got news that a friend of hers back home in the Bronx had passed away and after grieving, decided to move forward with the idea that she had been holding to honor his memory.
The idea was the Demé Health Network initiative, a nonprofit organization dedicated to providing telehealth services to the Bronx and rural Mali. Diakité’s choice to focus on these two communities is because they are both home. Born and raised in the Bronx, Diakité is also Malian by ancestry and says, “I could do it here, but it’s also good to pour back to your homeland, as well. So, I said before I start anywhere, let me start with where I’m from. And if I can make a difference there, then I can make a difference anywhere.”
As of 2024, the maternal mortality rate in Mali is 565 deaths to 100,000 live births — 80% of which are preventable, according to the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In the United States, Black and Brown birthing individuals also face disproportionately high maternal mortality rates compared to the national average. Targeted telehealth initiatives centered on these communities could play a pivotal role in reducing preventable deaths.
Currently, the 21-year-old is preparing to begin her senior year at Hunter College. She is majoring in Human Biology with minors in both Africana Studies and Entrepreneurship. Her childhood aspiration was always to be a pediatrician because she wanted to help children. While working towards her degree completion and with at least another 10 years before becoming an actual doctor, Diakité is building out her Demé Health Network. She is aware of the additional efforts needed to grow her initiative due to her research and connecting with others in the non profit space whom she said, “rallied around me, they’d offered support.”
With this initiative, Diakité will become one of the newer voices in the Black telehealth community. In 2020, Benjamin Lefever witnessing the lack of medical support for his immediate family and community was inspired to build out a telehealth service for his care management company, Certintell. That same year, Cheryle R. Jackson, the former CEO of Chicago Urban League — a nonprofit organization with the purpose of building a thriving community for Black Chicagoans — became CEO of Black Telehealth, a network claiming to have a list of premier Black health providers committed to delivering high-quality care.There has even been a rise in telehealth in parts of Sub-Saharan Africa. In Mali, RAFT (Reseau Afrique Francophone pour la Télémédecine) network, provides most of the telehealth care connecting health care professionals to a number of French-speaking countries throughout the continent.
Diakité is working to establish herself in New York City and rural Mali. The Demé Health Network is supported by a team of medical professionals who are volunteering their time and services free of charge. Because the initiative is in its early stages, Diakité is actively seeking funding through a recently launched GoFundMe campaign. Additionally, Diakité is hoping to gather resources and supplies to send abroad. To learn more or to support this project, visit the Demé Health Network on Instagram at @DeméHealthNetwork.