Today, December 1st, is World AIDS Day, a day that is all about raising awareness, countering prejudice, and helping stop the spread of HIV/AIDS. MobileActive.org has put together some of the mobile projects and organizations we've covered recently that are innovating with mobile tech in the fight against HIV and AIDS.
RedChatZone: HIV Counseling via Mobile Instant Messaging Chat
This project is an innovative mobile-based platform for youth and young adults to learn more about HIV and to get support by offering them the ability to communicate anonymously and privately via MXit with a trained counselor.
Project Masiluleke: Comprehensive HIV Care with Mobiles
Capitalizing on the 90% of South Africans who own mobile phones, Project Masiluleke brings HIV awareness to the public, and improved treatment compliance for patients through the use of text messaging. Also, check out an earlier post on the Praekelt Foundation and Young Africa Live, SocialTXT, and TXTAlert.
Mobile Quizzes for HIV/AIDS Awareness: Zain and Text to Change
The pilot by Text to Change used interactive SMS quizzes to get employees of mobile provider Zain to answer questions about HIV/AIDS, and to encourage them to get tested for HIV/AIDS. The pilot ran for four weeks in November and December of 2009 and had an overall response rate of 43%.
Airtime For Selling More Condoms: Social Marketing Tricks and Tips from Tanzania
"Ongea Zaidi na Salama," or "Talk More with Salama," is a social marketing venture to encourage shopkeepers in Tanzania to regularly buy and stock condoms for their stores in order to promote higher condom use rates. The program, run by the non-profit organization PSI, uses a scratch card reward system; shopkeepers who buy condoms from wholesale suppliers get scratch cards that provide them with additional airtime for their phones.
Mobile Tools
IQSMS is an open source, freely available SMS reporting tool to enable facilites to collect data and report on indicators for preventing mother-to-child transmission of HIV/AIDS. AMPATH, an HIV treatment program in sub-Saharan Africa, used the Open Data Kit suite of tools to reach people and collect data from people with HIV/AIDS.
There's More!
Check our site for additional tools, blog posts, and case studies. We also summarize and post research, reports, and white papers on the intersection of mobile technology and HIV/AIDS. If you have any suggestions about tools or organizations that are doing work towards fighting HIV/AIDS with mobiles, please leave a comment and let us know.
Photo courtesy World Aids Day - © 2010 National AIDS Trust.
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