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Using mobile technologies to reduce maternal death.
Challenges Entered:
Improving referrals and transport of women to hospital for emergency obstetric care
In Senegal the region of Kedougou has the highest recorded maternal death rate in the country, which is twice the national average. The high mortality rates are due to the poor quality and limited availability of health services, particularly emergency obstetric care services and the resulting low rate of use. Thus, WAHA International in partnership with the Ministry of Health of Senegal and the Fistula Foundation developed a project to improve access to obstetric care service delivery in the region.
In order to improve access to skilled assistance during delivery, WAHA International is developing better communication links between villages and health centres by donating prepaid mobile phones and working on a network of community representatives who call the health centre when there is an emergency. The involvement of the population is a key component of the project, and is viewed favorably by villagers.A motorbike ambulance system is also in place to transport women to a health centre or hospital. All of this reduces the delays for a women to receive proper emergency obstetric care when they have a complication during labour.
In addition, community health workers will be trained to recognize danger signs during delivery. If an emergency arises, the all-terrain vehicle can be called by radio or mobile phone to rapidly refer the patient to the nearest health centre or hospital.
Location
Health zone
Kedougou Region
Senegal
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Well done, good luck for the
Well done, good luck for the future !!!
Please do your best for helping the poor mom !
Great project...helping to
Great project...helping to reduce maternal mortality...
This is a great project and a
This is a great project and a great use of mobile phone technology to overcome a persistent health problem in rural Africa..
Good luck!
Very good project ...
Very good project ...
very good project ...
very good project ...
This looks like a great
This looks like a great project, and the video really helps to give it context. Thank you for what you are doing!
(I was a little worried about the motorbike ambulance until I saw in the video that it has a trailor contraption that can carry a patient more comfortably than on the back of a bike!)
What I like about your project is that it is based on a simple, easy to understand need that it addresses and also a simple, straightforward response. I think the jury might be interested in learning what tools you use to organize the project. For example, are you using FrontlineSMS?
The project seems very dependent on donor funds - do you have any plans or hopes to make it self-sustaining in the future?
It also seems highly replicable. Do you have plans to document your methodologies and experience to share for use by others? Have you been able to evaluate your success thus far?
Warm regards,
Tobias
ps - I've added this project to the list of African projects on the netsquared blog- lots of good other projects on there worth looking at.
Thanks Tobias! We wish to
Thanks Tobias! We wish to develop the project further in order to incorporate other systems, for now it was the first basic step of getting those phones out there to the community representatives and of creating an effective network for a patient referral system. Once the basis is there, that network can be strengthened with additional mobile applications. Over the following months we will be getting feedback from communities in order to see now what obstacles or problems have been encountered, if any, in order for the referral process to be as smooth and efficient as possible.
The project does have an injection of donor funds in terms of providing the phones and the ambulance, but a local phone provide has given us a free line to use for calls. We have developed a strong partnership with the health authorities and the community is actively involved in the programme which is highly appreciated, they really own the service.
We will definitely be sharing this experience as widely as possible. Thanks for listing the project under the Africa list!
Thanks Bob! The Grameen
Thanks Bob! The Grameen Foundation project in Ghana is really similar, and I believe could be very helpful for us to contact them about it. Thanks so much!
Check with the Gameen
Check with the Gameen foundationabout their use of the cellphonefor texting into the Northern states of Ghana. Their project is similar in scope to this. www.gameen.org (?)
In addition there is a project out of Bangladesh that is using similar technologiestoo. I do not recall the name of that one.
Also there is a project development for healthcare by the Jhai Foundation in Laos. Lee Thorn has done similar projects. www.jhai.org
Bob Lute