AudiencScapes

Josh Nesbit was doing HIV research at a clinic in Malawi in 2007 when he realized that new mobile infrastructure available there could be harnessed to bridge gaps and coordinate health care services. And so, Medic Mobile was launched in 2009- it develops technologies such as easy-to-use medical record systems and SIM card applications to help health workers communicate and coordinate patient care, and provide diagnostics using low-cost mobile technology. AudienceScapes Fellow Paromita Pain talks to Nesbit about how better information and communication access can help us live healthier and longer lives.

Pakistan is experimenting with a relatively new model of healthcare
delivery: telemedicine. For distance-based medical services to be
successful, however, projects must grapple with challenges like
inadequate infrastructure and patient distrust of the concept.

By Sushmita Malaviya (India)India’s densely populated state of Uttar Pradesh is enlisting technology in an effort to boost its vaccination coverage as part of a polio eradication and immunization program. Currently, 32 percent of Uttar Pradesh’s population is vaccinated. The World Health Organization has set a global goal for every district within a country to achieve an 80 percent rate of vaccination coverage.In early July, the Gautam Buddha Nagar district of Western Uttar Pradesh launched a new project that uses mobile phones to notify parents of every newborn child about their child’s immunization requirements.

By Dinfin Mulupi(Nairobi, Kenya )Kenya’s newest export is an ambitious electronic learning program for nurses. The program tackles the challenge of training health care workers who may not have access or time to attend in-person nursing classes. It started with computers and, more recently, is employing mobile phone technology to reach more nurses. Nursing students receive health information as text messages on their phones. With thousands trained so far, the e-learning program is equipping nurses – rural Kenyans’ primary care providers -- to respond to emerging diseases. Targeting NursesFive years ago, the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMREF) was wrestling with how to boost Kenya’s ability to manage new and re-emerging diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.