When her father was involved in a car accident that left him with a wound that lingered for months, refusing to heal quickly, Yvonne Ndanu, a student at Moi University, was heartbroken. Each dressing change not only highlighted her father’s pain but also piled up plastic bandages that lingered in the environment long after the wound had healed. That painful experience planted a seed in her mind. Could wound care be done differently? Could there be a solution that healed people more affordably without leaving scars on the planet? “Watching his struggle made me realize how many people face similar challenges of painful wounds, slow healing, and limited access to affordable and effective care,” she says.
The team behind the innovation. PHOTO | COURTESY | TRBN |
Science and innovation
It was out of these questions that FloraPatch was born. Since Yvonne is not an innovator by training—she is pursuing an entrepreneurship course—she teamed up with three of her peers with expertise in science and innovation to bring the idea to life. Together, they developed FloraPatch, a biodegradable bandage that not only covers wounds but also actively supports healing while being kind to the environment. The journey began with simple prototypes made from banana fibres, where the team experimented with strength, comfort, and healing potential. Over time, with mentorship and feedback, they gradually refined the bandage to include natural antimicrobial properties derived from plants. This not only protects wounds from infection but also accelerates recovery, addressing one of the most frustrating aspects of wound care: slow healing.
“What started as a simple concept of creating a bandage from biodegradable plant fibres has since grown into a refined prototype that not only covers wounds but also actively supports healing. In the near future, our goal is to pilot it in local clinics and rural communities in Kenya, where access to affordable and effective care is most needed. From there, we envision scaling it across Africa and eventually into global markets,” adds Yvonne. Unlike synthetic dressings, which cover wounds but do little to promote healing while contributing to mountains of medical waste, this innovation actively supports recovery and decomposes naturally after disposal.
According to the team, they felt it was important to create FloraPatch because wound care is not just a medical need it’s a daily struggle for many families. Too often, people suffer from wounds that heal slowly, cause prolonged pain, or become worse due to lack of affordable and effective care. At the same time, the bandages commonly used today are made of synthetic materials that pile up as medical waste and harm the environment.
Market
Globally, wound care is a massive business. The market was valued at $148 billion in 2022 and continues to grow as populations age, chronic diseases rise, and more people live with conditions such as diabetes that make them prone to wounds. Hospitals, clinics, and homes depend on bandages, dressings, gauze, and other wound care products every day. But the industry carries a hidden cost: waste. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), about 15 per cent of healthcare waste is hazardous, containing infectious, toxic, or sharp materials. Wound care products—particularly single-use plastic bandages, dressings, and sharps—make up a significant portion of this waste stream.
“What sets FloraPatch apart is its dual purpose: it promotes faster healing and reduces environmental harm. We want it to become the new standard for wound care, especially in communities where both health and waste management are pressing concerns,” Yvonne says. According to Joshua Osugo, a public health expert, wound care is not just about healing patients; it has ripple effects on public health and the environment. This is why we need innovations that balance patient safety with sustainability. By replacing synthetic, single-use dressings with biodegradable alternatives, this will not only reduce the volume of medical waste but also lower the risks associated with poor disposal practices such as open burning or unsafe landfills.
Inspiration
Osugo believes such innovations have the potential to inspire systemic change. “If we can scale biodegradable solutions across wound care, Personal Protective Equipment, and other medical consumables, we can significantly cut healthcare’s environmental footprint,” he says.
This innovation comes at a critical moment. A time when there is a growing global movement to rethink how healthcare products are made, used, and disposed of. In recent years, hospitals in Europe and North America have begun pushing for greener alternatives from reusable surgical instruments to biodegradable packaging.
Healthcare organizations have also started calling for greener alternatives in medical care. The World Health Organization, for instance, has urged hospitals and governments to adopt sustainable procurement practices and reduce reliance on disposable plastics, while groups such as Health Care Without Harm are pushing for products that are reusable, recyclable, or biodegradable.
