Mobile health services could greatly improve the provision of healthcare in SA, at significantly less cost.
So says Rob Allen, manager of the hi4Life programme at non-profit HIVSA.
With support from the Elton John Aids Foundation, HIVSA has developed a set of services under its new m-health hi4Life platform, which aims to give citizens access to health information on topics including HIV/Aids, TB, and maternal and child health.
“It is our vision that, through the hi4Life platform, anyone, including healthcare professionals, should be able to access relevant, up-to-date, accurate information on any health subject, privately, anytime, anywhere,” says Allen.
Hi4Life services can be accessed via MXit, mobi-sites and a phone number, which allows users to select a topic from various information menus and receive a set of related SMSes. The mobi-sites include mama.mobi and baby.mobi, where users can access information on specific areas of concern, ask questions or comment. Topics include details on pregnancy, baby health, HIV, vaccinations, feeding, check-ups and so forth, based on guidelines from the Department of Health.
The services range in cost from a few cents when accessed via USSD (offered free on Cell C and MXit), to regular call rates. Allen notes that cost is one of the greatest challenges: “In SA, there are very few opportunities to provide 'free to user' cellphone-based services. The 'free' services are immensely popular, as one would expect, but any cost to a user is a severe barrier to user uptake.”
Allen notes that mobile is a particularly powerful channel for communicating health-related issues in SA. With more SIM cards in use than the entire population, cellphones are a natural way to get people more involved and integrated in the healthcare sector, he says. “There are now more cellphones than radios, making it an ideal way for us to not only provide people with information, but also get them to engage and respond.”
This is key given the language and cultural issues at play in the country's diverse population, which have to be considered when it comes to communicating health information, says Allen. For example, MXit may be effective in targeting younger age groups, but older users require a different approach.
“There are enormous opportunities available to partners in making these services more interactive and user-friendly, resulting in increased usage for network operators, using m-health as a direct marketing and advertising platform, and ultimately for achieving better health outcomes for everyone in SA,” notes Allen.
In May, various experts on the topics of ICT in healthcare will speak at the Mobile Health Africa conference, in Johannesburg. Allen says an increasing number of parties are beginning to work in the field of m-health and that it needs to be on the agenda when topics such as public health information policies and the National Health Insurance plan are discussed. Other organisations that will be present at the conference include Unicef, the Grameen Foundation, USAID, Vodacom, Safaricom and HP.
“We believe, and this is only the beginning, that there are great benefits to integrating primary healthcare and electronic medical systems into m-health services,” concludes Allen.
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