ICT to Improve Health Services for Mothers and Children

VillageReach is working with the Ministry of Health to develop and implement an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) program to increase access to the essential package of maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) services. This program includes a toll‐free 24‐hour case management hotline for maternal and child health advice and referral, and uses mobile phones to send personalized voice and SMS health messages to women regarding their pregnancy and the health needs of their children. VillageReach is also working with the Ministry of Health to test a facility‐based scheduling system for antenatal and postnatal care in order to reduce wait times, improve provider‐client interactions, and improve health center readiness for maternal and neonatal health.

To read the complete project brief, click here.

Kwitanda Community Health

Since 2008, VillageReach has led a program to strengthen the health system at the community and health center levels by building capacity of community health workers, implementing cost-effective interventions to reduce malaria and diarrheal diseases, and improving communication between community health workers and the health center through SMS communication systems.

VillageReach’s program aims to reduce levels of malaria and diarrheal disease in the Kwitanda catchment area by 35 percent by the end of 2011. To accomplish this goal, VillageReach facilitates distribution of existing cost-effective preventative measures, manages community health worker training, and provides infrastructure support for the health center and community. Activities include:

• Malaria Prevention and Treatment — Distribution of long-lasting insecticide treated mosquito nets, expanding access to treatment, IEC on proper usage of mosquito nets, and improving diagnosis;
• Diarrhea Prevention — Provision and maintenance of sources of safe water, training of water point committees in basic borehole maintenance to ensure continued access to safe drinking water, and implementation of a community-based sanitation and hygiene program;
• Strengthening the Community Health System through Support and Management of HSAs — Employment, training, and supervision of Health Surveillance Assistants (HSAs), who staff village clinics and conduct environmental health activities;
• Establishment of Village Clinics — Strengthening prevention, diagnosis, and treatment services for children under five at the village level;
• Transportation Support — Provision of bicycles to HSAs, bicycle ambulances to the community (which are strategically located to best serve rural health emergencies), and facilitation of community-based road improvement; and
• Infrastructure Support — Provision of essential health center equipment, such as a refrigerator for vaccine storage, and support for building repairs and maintenance.

Medicines for Malaria Venture SMS

VillageReach developed and implemented a pilot SMS-to-Internet data system to collect information on the type, volume and sales price of antimalarial medicines distributed from both public and private facilities in rural contexts in Malawi. VillageReach Malawi staff train dispensary employees and drug vendors to format SMS messages for transmission to the system and then monitor incoming message via the web interface, manage vendor air time, correct messages with errors and produce reports of the data.

In the pilot, SMS data sent to the internet application by vendors in remote locations was instantly recognized online and registered. Responses were sent back confirming message receipt, and the online charts and graphs displaying the recorded were updated. The system was designed to be flexible in order to be relevant for a variety of health system programs operating in challenging physical environments. The system can support tracking and recording of any type of drug or vaccine, scale to large volumes of vendors, and health clinics, and account for whatever SMS charges are incurred. For the MMV program, the system additionally provided an incentive by sending SMS top-up value as a reward to vendors for successful reporting. The pilot program now serves as a leading example of data collection and data processing that can efficiently and effectively leverage the expanding presence of cellular-based communications networks throughout the developing world.