Hera Digital Health supports refugees by providing healthcare access via its mobile app. We spoke to Founder Aral Sürmeli about the impact Hera has had, the benefits of digital systems and the importance of open-source coding.
Aral, what problems do refugee communities usually face in terms of healthcare access?
Right now, there are 140 million forcibly displaced people worldwide. If they were a country, they would have the worst health outcomes of any nation. They would have the lowest immunisation rates for children and high maternal mortality. Several factors contribute to this. First, displacement increases the burden of disease. Losing your home, your social network, and sometimes even your family takes a serious toll. We also know that when preventive healthcare—like vaccinations or prenatal check-ups—is not provided, existing conditions worsen. Now, imagine trying to navigate a healthcare system in a language you don’t understand, in a place where you don’t even know where to go for medical attention. On top of that, many refugees carry the mental and physical trauma of displacement, and mental health conditions among refugee populations are extremely common. Yet, access to care remains limited.
Where did the idea for Hera come from?
It started with my first nonprofit, MEDAK—Medical Rescue Association of Turkey—which I founded in 2013. Initially, our focus was on medical disaster response, but as the refugee crisis intensified, we found ourselves working with displaced communities in Turkey. With over four million refugees in the country, we provided care along the border and in Istanbul, where the largest refugee population was based. One thing stood out: all the refugees we worked with had mobile phones. Phones weren’t a luxury; they were a lifeline. These devices connected them to their families, spread across different parts of the world, and helped them access information about services available to them.
While still in medical school, I did an internship at Harvard’s Global Health Center in Dubai, where I worked on digital health solutions with an incredible professor. That experience opened my eyes to the potential of technology in healthcare. When I returned to Turkey, I started thinking about how digital health could support refugees. Even though healthcare is free in Turkey, refugees often don’t know where to go, what services they are eligible for, or how to navigate the system. The language barrier, changing regulations and lack of awareness create a massive gap. I saw an opportunity to build a solution based on how refugees already access information—through their phones. That’s how HERA was born, a digital tool that helps refugees access timely healthcare information, keep their medical records digitally, and plan out immunisation and pregnancy care appointments.
The Hera app in action Can you share some examples of the impact Hera has had?
Over the past year, HERA has reached 180,000 people. More than 3,000 refugees have used our tools to locate their nearest health centre and access translation features to communicate with doctors. Around 2,000 mothers have followed up on their children’s immunisation and prenatal care through our system. We’ve also conducted health literacy training for over 5,000 individuals, covering topics like maternal health, childcare and refugee health rights. In response to the 2023 earthquake, we distributed thousands of critical health and hygiene supplies. Whether it’s connecting refugees to healthcare services or helping them understand their rights, our goal is to remove barriers and ensure they can access care with dignity.
What benefits does a digital tool have over analogue systems?
Digital solutions are more scalable, mobile and adaptable compared to paper-based systems. They require less physical infrastructure and can integrate with existing healthcare technologies. Most importantly, digital tools allow for real-time information sharing—whether it’s alerts about new health centres opening or providing up-to-date guidance on vaccine schedules. Another critical advantage is mobility. Many people assume that refugees move once and settle in a new location. In reality, displacement is often continuous—people move across cities, borders, and even continents. A paper-based system cannot keep up with that kind of mobility, but a digital health tool moves with them. Analogue systems are also harder to modify. The needs of refugees change rapidly, and digital solutions allow us to be more agile in responding to these evolving challenges.
How do you ensure the data privacy of users?
Refugee data is incredibly sensitive. Many refugees don’t know who to trust, so privacy is not just a legal requirement—it’s a fundamental principle of our work. HERA complies with international data protection standards such as HIPAA and GDPR, but beyond that, we ensure that users remain the sole owners of their data. HERA does not collect personal health records unless users explicitly give permission. The platform is designed to allow refugees to store their own medical records digitally, without HERA having access to them. This way, when they visit a doctor, they can simply pull up their records on their phone rather than relying on paperwork that could be lost or damaged. Everything is encrypted and built with user security as a top priority.
Have you taken any steps to minimise Hera’s digital footprint in terms of carbon emissions from software coding and development?
Being digital-first already reduces our environmental impact by minimising reliance on physical infrastructure. But beyond that, we focus on sustainability in several ways. First, everything we build is open-source. This means other organisations can use our tools without having to develop new ones from scratch, reducing unnecessary duplication. We also ensure that we integrate with existing platforms rather than reinventing the wheel. For example, instead of building a new messaging platform, we use WhatsApp, which refugees are already familiar with. By optimising how we develop and deploy our technology, we minimize energy consumption while maximising impact.
During the 2023 earthquake in Turkey, Hera shared its open-source software with an NGO Which of your digital tools are open source? Have your apps been used by other organisations in light of this?
We believe collaboration is the only way to truly scale impact. Every tool we develop is open-source, with no gatekeeping. We actively work with other organizations to integrate our solutions into their programs. A great example of this was during the 2023 earthquake. We partnered with an international NGO to combine our health centre mapping tool with their service locator. In the immediate aftermath of the disaster, new mobile clinics were being set up every day, but there was no centralised way to track them. We adapted our existing WhatsApp chatbot so that aid workers could send the clinic’s location via WhatsApp—just like they would share a location with a friend. The chatbot then mapped it in real time, allowing refugees to find the nearest available health services.
This kind of agility is what makes digital tools so powerful. The needs of displaced communities are constantly changing, and our solutions must evolve with them.
