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This is yet another example how mobile technology is helping improve people’s lives. FrontlineSMS:Medic aims to improve health care in poor, rural villages in the developing world.
First the problem. There is a global shortage of some 4.4 million healthcare professionals, as estimated by the World Health Organization, and many rural health centers in poor regions depend largely on community health workers who travel among clinics and villages. And because these health workers can’t cover all the people who need their attention, some patients remain untreated for far too long.
Enter FrontlineSMS:Medic. Powered by free, open-source software FrontlineSMS, the initiative places a laptop running FrontlineSMS in a central clinic and then distributes cell phones to community health workers. Workers are trained in sending SMS to hospital staff to request treatment instructions, which they receive back as a text message. At the same time, modified camera phones are used to analyze blood and sputum samples and perform critical diagnostics for conditions including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
Recently, a 6-month pilot test ended at a hospital in Malawi, and 150 patients received emergency care. Meanwhile, it has been calculated that community health workers saved 1,000 hours of travel time, allowing them to visit more patients and save some cash on fuel costs.
Finally, on the heels of the success of the Malawi pilot, FrontlineSMS:Medic launched numerous other projects throughout Africa and beyond through partnerships with global health organizations. Impressive, don’t you think?
[Via: springwise]
About The Author
Dusan Belic
Dusan has been using smartphones since their introduction and is now following the latest trends in the industry. The "convergence" is what he's most excited about, and writing about it is the next logical thing to do. He thinks that using a smartphone is what everyone who cares about their time should do. In addition to his interests in mobile phones, Dusan also loves to experiment with the latest web and mobile 2.0 services. The idea of accessing and managing your information from any device no matter where you are simply amazes him. Whether it's an online to-do list, note taking service or a video sharing social network, he's there to try it out. He admits though, he's still searching for the ultimate web-based organizational tool, which "sings" perfectly with the mobile PIM application. Dusan used to run SymbianWatch.com which later became part of IntoMobile. He lives in Serbia, South-East Europe, from where he edits the site on a daily basis.
