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This paper examines the design process of the health communication process within the framework of the ICT-for-healthcare-development model (ICT4HC) (Author, Lwin, Ang, Lin, & Santoso, 2008). The paper analyzes the planned deployment of an ICT4H project that introduced a mobile telephony-based system to a specific group of users, rural midwives, and examine the myriad impacts and constraints that arise. The broad research question the paper aims to answer pertains to the design and evaluation of mobile phone-based ICT4H projects using a generalizable theoretical frameworks, specifically the ICT4HC model.

Nearly 40 million people in Africa suffer from HIV/AIDS. African governments and international aid agencies have been working to combat this epidemic by vigorously promot- ing Highly Active Anti-Retroviral Therapy (HAART) programs. Despite the enormous subsidies offered by governments along with free Anti-RetroViral (ARV) drugs supplied by agencies, the introduction and implementation of HAART programs on a large scale has been limited by two fundamental problems: (a) lack of adherence to the ARV therapy regimen; (b) lack of accountability in drug distribution due to theft, corruption and counterfeit medication. In this paper, we motivate the case for SmartTrack, a telehealth project which aims to address these two problems facing HAART programs. The goal of SmartTrack is to create a highly reliable, secure and ultra low-cost cellphone-based distributed drug in- formation system that can be used for tracking the flow and consumption of ARV drugs in HAART programs. In this paper, we assess the potential benefit of SmartTrack using a detailed needs-assessment study performed in Ghana, using interviews with 516 HIV-positive rural patients in a number of locations across the country. We find that a system like SmartTrack would immensely benefit both patients and healthcare providers, and can ultimately lead to improved patient outcomes and better accountability.

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This paper examines two parallel case studies to promote remote medical consultation in Ghana. These projects, initiated independently by different researchers in different organizations, both deployed ICT solutions in the same medical community in the same year. The Ghana Consultation Network currently has over 125 users running a Web-based application over a delay-tolerant network of servers. OneTouch MedicareLine is currently providing 1700 doctors in Ghana with free mobile phone calls and text messages to other members of the medical community. We present the consequences of (1) the institutional context and identity of the investigators, as well as specific decisions made with respect to (2) partnerships formed, (3) perceptions of technological infrastructure, and (4) high-level design decisions. In concluding, we discuss lessons learned and high-level implications for future ICTD research agendas.

This presentation provides an overview of the InSTEDD Global Platform for Early Disease Detection, Reponse, and Evaluation. The summary includes reviews the proportion of infections detected and proposes addressing these challenges by adopting a social network and cognitive model approach. The approach facilitates: Early identification of potential health threats and verification, assessment, and investigation of threats in order to recommend measures (public health and other) to control them. The presentation describes the indicator and event-based hybrid surveillance approach and gives two examples of collaborative testing in the field.

This article summarizes how the Kenyan Research Institute (KEMRI) in collaboration with the University of Nairobi (UON) abd the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are applying mobile technology to help gather field data crucial to understanding and fighting Malaria. The project featured forms a part of MIT's Entrepreneurial Programming and Research on Mobiles (EPROM) Program. The goal of the project is to improve the efficiency and accuracy of dta collection and input to better comprehend the spread of disease and develop responses.

This study is the result of a collaboration between Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, UNICEF Malawi, and UNICEF’s Division of Communications Innovations Team in an attempt to use mobile communication devices to facilitate the surveillance of child nutrition in Malawi. As part of the pilot study, health workers at three district growth monitoring clinics were trained to submit child nutrition data via mobile phone SMS (text messages). Using an open-source software platform (RapidSMS), this data was received by a central server and automatically analyzed for indicators of child malnutrition. Health workers received instant feedback messages confirming the information sent and provided additional directions if malnutrition was indicated by the data received. Finally, a website was created to provide the Malawian government and other stakeholders real-time access to this data and its analysis. The report details the pilot study’s findings and outline recommendations for the future use of RapidSMS in Malawi.

This pilot study yielded a number of findings that may be applicable to other development projects using similar mobile phone technology. The results of this particular program included: Significant reduction in data transmission delay compared to Malawi’s current paper-based system. increase in data quality reported by health workers, elimination of the need for time-consuming manual data-entry, increased two-way flow of information between stakeholders at the national government level and health workers in the field, increased system and personnel monitoring capabilities, and elimination of costs related to transporting paper forms and manually entering data.

However, technology can only aid development within a limited scope. The true value of this innovation will be dependent on several other factors, including the integration of RapidSMS into the larger context of health activities and policy making in Malawi; the willingness of the Government of Malawi to take ownership of the platform; the ability to build and develop local technical capacity; and the maintenance of training and monitoring at all levels of participation.