Your health story is yours. Here's how we protect it.
This page is maintained by the Sira Health team to answer the most common questions Ugandans ask us about safety, privacy and control of their medical record. It describes how the app is built and used today — it is not a certification or a legal document.
Is this approved by doctors?
Sira Health is designed with input from Ugandan clinicians. Every hospital and doctor account on the platform is created by an administrator after verifying the practitioner — patients cannot sign themselves up as doctors. Medical guidance content (first aid, maternal, family planning, HIV/TB/malaria, mental health) is drawn from Uganda Ministry of Health and WHO public materials.
The August AI assistant is a triage helper — it can suggest what to do next, but it does not replace a doctor's diagnosis. For anything serious, always see a clinician.
Is my National ID (NIN) safe?
Your NIN is used only as your unique identifier so that a doctor in one hospital can find the same record you started elsewhere. It is stored in our encrypted database and is never shown publicly, sold, or shared with advertisers. Staff accounts can only look up a patient by NIN after you have granted their organisation access.
Can anyone see my sickness history?
No — not by default. When you create an account, no hospital or pharmacy can read your profile, visits or prescriptions. You explicitly grant access to each organisation from Privacy & consent in your patient portal, and you can revoke that access at any time.
When you request a medicine delivery from a pharmacy, that pharmacy gets 30 days of access so it can fulfil and follow up on the order. After that it expires automatically unless you extend it.
Can my employer, family, insurance company or pharmacy see my record?
- Employers: No. Sira Health has no employer accounts. Your workplace cannot see that you use the app or what you were treated for.
- Family members: No, unless you personally share your login. We do not offer a "family view" that exposes an adult's record to another person.
- Insurance companies: No. We do not share records with insurers. If you want to submit a claim, you download or show the specific document yourself.
- Pharmacies: Only the specific pharmacy you sent a delivery request to, and only for the duration of that consent (30 days by default). You can revoke it earlier.
What happens if my phone is stolen?
Your account is protected by your email and password — the thief cannot open your record just by unlocking your phone unless you have saved the password in the browser.
- From any other device, go to Forgot password and reset your password. This signs the thief out.
- Email support@sirahealth.life so we can help lock the account and review recent activity.
- We recommend also setting a screen lock (PIN, fingerprint, or face) on your phone.
Who do I contact if something goes wrong?
Email support@sirahealth.life for account, privacy, or data questions. For a suspected security issue (a bug, leaked data, unauthorised access), please write to the same address with "Security" in the subject line so we can respond urgently.
If you believe your record has been viewed by someone who should not have access, revoke their consent from Privacy & consent and then email us so we can investigate.
Is this connected to government or private hospitals?
Sira Health is an independent Ugandan digital health platform. It is not owned by, or an official system of, the Ministry of Health or any single hospital group. Individual hospitals and pharmacies — both government-referral and private — can join the network so that the care they give you lives in the same record.
We are not part of the national HMIS or DHIS2; we do not automatically share your record with government systems.
Is this for emergencies?
No. Sira Health is not an emergency service. In a medical emergency, call 911 (Uganda Police emergency) or go to the nearest hospital casualty department immediately.
The app can help by keeping your blood group, allergies and emergency contacts in one place so a clinician treating you can find them quickly — see Emergency info.
Sira Health protects the platform: encrypted storage, per-user access rules, and audit logs. You protect your account: use a strong password, don't share your login, and review who has access from your Privacy & consent page. Hospitals and pharmacies you grant access to are responsible for how their own staff use the record.