Wireless at forefront of $10M effort to fight AIDS in Africa

Mobile-phone firms and the U.S. government are leading a $10 million global effort to leverage wireless technology to fight HIV/AIDS and other deadly diseases in 10 African countries.
“The explosive spread of mobile-phone networks across the developing world has created a unique opportunity to significantly transform how countries can tackle global health challenges,” said Dr. Howard Zucker, assistant director-general of the World Health Organization, at the launch of the Phones for Health program at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.
The initiative’s partners are the GSM Association’s Development Fund, the U.S. President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, Accenture Development Partnerships, Motorola Inc., African cellphone carrier MTN and Voxiva, a provider of health-care management technology in the developing world.
The program centers on a health application running on a Motorola handset that will allow field workers to transmit disease information into a central database. The data is mapped and analyzed, and is then made available to health authorities at multiple levels via the Web. The system also allows health workers to communicate with field staff.
“Rapid and accurate communications channels are crucial to tackling the many health problems faced by African countries and other parts of the developing world,” said Rob Conway, chief executive of the GSM Association. “The rollout of this health management software in Africa will clearly demonstrate how governments can exploit the expanding mobile infrastructure to enhance the well-being of their citizens.”
In many African countries, according to the Phones for Health partnership, wireline Internet connections are rare and paper forms are still the primary way of recording the spread of disease. At the same time, 60 percent of the population now lives in areas with cellphone coverage, and the GSMA expects that figure to rise to 85 percent by 2010. Thus, mobile phones can relay disease information directly into health authorities’ databases, allowing speedy interventions such as distribution of medication and education programs for those at risk.
MTN, which operates in 21 countries in Africa and the Middle East, is the first wireless operator partner in the program, and will support the rollout of handsets and the underlying data service.
“People living with HIV in the developing world deserve high-quality treatment and care, and this innovative partnership will ensure that health workers and program managers get the timely, relevant information they need-even when they serve patients in the most remote areas,” said Ambassador Mark Dybul, U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator.
The system has previously been used in Rwanda, where it has found success, according to the group.
“This technology is revolutionizing how data is captured in the field,” said Dr. Louis Munyakaze, director general of Rwanda’s National Institute of Statistics.
Participants in the program said it likely will be extended further in Africa and Asia to address tuberculosis, malaria and other infectious diseases.