Mobile Phones will be used to help health professionals collect data, have it analyzed and receive feedback in a show case project to be launched next week in Ethiopia. The project is led by Technology for Change International and is expected to cost approximately 370,000 US dollars.
The project will distribute a thousand mobile handsets to health professionals in the Amhara, Oromia Southern and Tigray regional states. The health professionals will use the handsets to gather data on pregnant women and send it on to a central server.
The central server will analyze the data and transmit an alert to the data collector of any complications according to Naoll Addisu Executive Director of Technology for change International and iConcept a technology consultancy firm.The alert will inform the health professional and enable him to take appropriate measures against anticipated complications said Naoll. The system can also serve as an information database for reference by health professionals when complications occur he added.
80% of the system for this project has been completed said Naoll. The system is based on freely available software such as FrontlineSMS but will be customized for the particular demands of the project according to Naoll. The algorithm is being developed in collaboration with the Addis Ababa Institute of Technology.
Another element of the project is known as txt4Enat. The first phase of this service expects to enlist 100,000 expecting mothers to SMS issues they encounter in pregnancy explains Naoll.
The project is anticipated to carry out over three years and has been approved by the Ministry of Health pending feedback from people engaged in the sector. It is anticipated that the project will initiate within two months according to Naoll.
Source: Addis Fortune
