When, earlier this year, medical student Keaton Harris was chosen to take part in the Young Sustainable Impact (YSI) Innovation Program, he was, needless to say, thrilled. 

Then when he heard, recently, that his team had actually won the global competition for their design prototype aimed at solving health problems, the feeling was “surreal"! 

After months of liaising remotely with a team which finally pitched their prototype at a conference in Norway in August, Harris and his team-mates were voted the winners of the competition for their platform InforMED, which aims to help cross language barriers within the health sector. 

Earlier this year, Harris, a first-year medical student who also holds a Pharmacy Honours degree from UWC (summa cum laude), became one of 21 people – and the only South African - to be selected to take part in the YSI programme. 

YSI, which has been running since 2016, aims to find solutions to help meet the United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 

Candidates were chosen from 8560 applications internationally on the basis they were “crazy enough to think they can change the world and bold enough to actually do it." 

Following their selection, they were put into teams and coached to create their own design prototypes aimed at solving one of the SDGs. Harris and his team identified the SDG 3 which relates to “Good Health and Wellbeing." 

The teams then went through an online programme for five months while working together remotely on their prototypes. 

“The idea was that, after the five months we should have a prototype up and running, which we did. We then went to Oslo, Norway, as a team, from 12 to 26 August, to refine our start-up idea and build our business brand name and logo. We also interacted with a range of people," Harris said. 

“Working on the SDG 3 was perfect for me, being in the medical field. There were initially three of us in my team – myself, a person from Canada and another from Brazil. We started off by analysing different aspects of health that need improvement. 

“We decided to work on how to cross language barriers in medical practice. In South Africa, for example, language barriers are a problem. For instance, if an English- or Afrikaans-speaking doctor goes to work in KwaZulu-Natal, where most people speak Zulu, there can be a language barrier. 

“Our team created an offline mobile translation app which essentially breaks the language barrier between health practitioners and patients. 

“Then we got in a fourth person from India who is an expert in Artificial Intelligence. We coded the app and hard-coded the information. We got common statements from doctors, like 'how are you feeling'. The app can translate this to make communication easier. 

“The initial interface allows doctors or healthcare practitioners to choose their language of preference and for the patient to do the same. 

“We tackled this as a prediagnostic tool, so that before even doing a physical exam on a patient, the practitioner already has a clearer perspective regarding what could potentially be wrong with the patient and what should be focussed on in the physical exam to refine the diagnosis. 

“We then went to the conference, where we were given three minutes to pitch our idea with a slide show. I was chosen to pitch for our team. It was a big event. They then had a vote, based on the innovation criteria and what was felt was the most beneficial prototype for the public. Then they announced we had actually won! We didn't expect it at all!" 

Harris said the 20 000 Norwegian Kroner (about R45 000) which his team won, will be put into their start up so that they can further develop their product. 

An elated Harris said: “If you'd asked me five years ago if I'd be given an opportunity to change the world, I'd say you were lying. But now I do have this opportunity! To create something that's not been created before is surreal and also motivational as it shows you what you're capable of and it demonstrates the impact you can make when you're surrounded with individuals who think along the same lines as you do." 

Harris said that since their win, the team has been working to collaborate with Doctors Without Borders and other health practitioners to obtain translations for other languages. 

“We have had good feedback. We recently received a message from a doctor in Pakistan who said he will be an English/Urdu translator for us. We have also launched our Instagram page in Norway and have had good feedback from that. People are reaching out to us and indicating that they want to be involved. It really motivates us to take it further."

Captions: Keaton Harris at the YSI conference in Norway.