The GSM Association Development Fund and Voxiva have joined forces in running pilot projects in Rwanda and Indonesia to test a mobile application that can use cellphones in the fight against HIV/AIDS, Avian flu and other diseases.
The Java-based software, jointly developed by the GSMA Development Fund and Voxiva, allows health workers in the field to use mobile phones to submit critical health data such as outbreaks of disease, drug inventory levels, patient treatment status either via GPRS or SMS to authorities in real time via a health management information system developed by Voxiva.
The system also supports two-way communications, allowing health workers in the field to receive quicker feedback on laboratory results, treatment guidelines or possible quarantine requirements.
"The efforts of the international health community to control pandemics, by getting life-saving drugs to those in need, depend heavily on a comprehensive and accurate picture of what is happening on the ground," said Rob Conway, CEO and member of the board of the GSMA in a statement. "When a disease is spreading rapidly, health authorities need information that is bang-up-to-date. Mobile networks, which are now widespread in the developing world, are the best and most immediate way to get them that vital data."
In their first pilot project, the GSM Association Development Fund and Voxiva, supported by Rwanda's largest mobile phone operator MTN, have completed testing the software in the African country's eastern province. The tests, conducted in collaboration with the Rwanda National Institute of Statistics (NISR), used the software to capture information on health infrastructure normally collected on paper forms.
The two are planning to work with MTN and other operators to roll out the application across Rwanda and other African countries, such as Nigeria, Tanzania and South Africa.
A second pilot project, which will use the mobile application to help track the spread of avian flu, is scheduled to begin in Indonesia in November. Voxiva is working with USAID, Winrock International, Microsoft and the Indonesian Ministry of Agriculture, to integrate the software into an existing Voxiva surveillance system.