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This paper examines the current use of ICTs to advance family planning, reproductive health, and other health programs, and identifies the enabling conditions for further scale-up. The examples of ICTs at work are structured around specific elements of success that were captured in the 2008 USAID-funded report, Elements of Success in Family Planning Programming: (1) building a high-performing, welltrained staff; (2) providing strong leadership; (3) communicating effectively; (4) basing decisions on evidence; and (5) assuring contraceptive security with a strong logistics system.

Examples of ICT are being applied to support or advance family planning and reproductive health programs in many African countries. Examples from Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Malawi and Uganda are examined here, complemented by a review of efforts in Bangladesh and India as well as several virtual global programs. The paper also takes a look at how digital platforms and mobile technology are being integrated into the overall health systems strengthening approach. The collective review of these programs illustrates the myriad ways in which technology is adapted to respond to local needs as well as to support national health programs and global health initiatives.

‘Aarogyam’ is a Sanskrit word which means "complete freedom from illness”. Aarogyam is an ICT based responsive system which ensures and involves active participation of all key stakeholders viz. local administration, health facilities and doctors, frontline health workers (ASHA (Accredited Social Health Activists), ANM (Auxiliary Nurse Midwife), and AWW (Angan Wadi Workers)), village heads and beneficiaries, to ensure that a pregnant woman is provided with ANC, PNC and complete immunization throughout the continuum of care.   Aarogyam maintains a village wise database of all the beneficiaries (pregnant/lactating women, children up to 5 years) of an area, which gets continually updated with new data generating on the field with the help of front line health workers. The database thus generated is the backbone of the software system used by Aarogyam. This system generates automated alerts in the form of vernacular voice calls/SMS to the beneficiary thus enabling the beneficiary with vital information at their door step.   The system not only provides beneficiary with the information to be acted upon but also ensures that the services are delivered to the beneficiary by generating automated alerts (vernacular voice calls/SMS) for the ANM and Block level health officials, informing them of due services in their area.  

Grameen Foundation’s experience of designing and implementing a mobile health program in Ghana can provide insights for the broader field and specific projects that are in early phases of planning and implementation. A fundamental tenet of Grameen Foundation’s work is to share information broadly, from program designs to management plans to source code to lessons learned - both successes andfailures. To that end, this document is intended to provide:

1) A comprehensive overview of the Mobile Technology for Community Health (MOTECH) project in Ghana and how it works.

2) An insight into strategic decisions and design approaches made by the project team throughout the course of the implementation.

3) Information on lessons learned during the project and implications of decisions on future scale.