By Judith Matanire
Cimas Health Group’s annual Healthathon has evolved beyond a competition into a national platform for digital health innovation, bringing together Zimbabwean innovators to develop practical solutions to challenges facing the country’s healthcare sector.
Cimas Health Group Chief Information Officer Foster Akaketwa said this ahead of the Healthathon 3.0 grand finale, which will be held on Friday, August 28, 2026, at the group’s head office in Borrowdale, Harare, under the theme “Reimagining Healthcare Through Disruptive Innovation.”
The initiative is part of Cimas Health Group’s broader efforts to promote innovation aimed at making healthcare more accessible, affordable, efficient and responsive to community needs.
This year’s edition attracted 372 submissions from innovators, start-ups, researchers, students and emerging technology enthusiasts across Zimbabwe.
Akaketwa said the strong response demonstrated the growing appetite and capacity among Zimbabweans to use technology to address healthcare challenges.
“This year’s Cimas Healthathon 3.0 has once again provided a national platform for innovators to develop technology-driven solutions to some of Zimbabwe’s most pressing healthcare challenges,” he said.
The submissions covered a wide range of areas, including diagnostics, preventive healthcare, artificial intelligence, rural healthcare, rehabilitation, data protection and emergency response.
The competition progressed through several stages of screening, presentations, mentorship and solution refinement, with the field narrowed from 372 submissions to the Top 20, then Top 15, before the final 10 teams were selected for the grand finale.
Akaketwa said mentorship played a key role in helping participants transform their initial ideas into solutions with greater potential for real-world application.
“Each of the Top 15 teams was assigned a mentor. The mentors worked with the teams to challenge their assumptions, strengthen their research, understand healthcare workflows, refine their solutions and think through what would be required to take those solutions into implementation,” he said.
The 10 finalists will present their solutions before a judging panel comprising Cimas Health Group leadership and external experts from the healthcare, technology, innovation and industry sectors.
The overall winner will receive US$3,500, while the second- and third-placed teams will receive US$2,000 and US$1,500, respectively.
However, Akaketwa said the value of the Healthathon goes beyond the prize money, with promising innovations potentially progressing to validation, incubation, partnerships and pilot programmes.
“Our Healthathon is about identifying innovations that have the potential to create real healthcare impact. So, beyond the monetary prizes, participants stand to gain something even more valuable, the opportunity to have their innovations considered for piloting with Cimas Health Group and to contribute to shaping the future of healthcare in Zimbabwe,” he said.
He added that the true measure of the initiative’s success would be whether ideas developed through the competition ultimately translate into tangible improvements in people’s healthcare experiences.
“For us, the real success of Healthathon will be when an idea developed through this challenge moves beyond the competition and begins making a measurable difference in people’s lives,” Akaketwa said.
“That is ultimately what innovation should be about, and it is closely aligned with our purpose of inspiring healthier communities.”
