mHealth programme expanded in Africa

How cool is this, the United Nations Foundation and Vodafone Foundation's Technology Partnership will expand their mHealth (mobile health) programme to 22 sub-Saharan countries by the end of 2008.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and DataDyne.org (non-profit) will now join to use EpiSurveyor, an open-source application that helps health care workers track health data.

EpiSurveyor can be downloaded to devices like mobiles and PDA's making it highly adaptable for staff working on the ground. It has already been successfully piloted in Kenya and Zambia improving availability and timeliness of health care data involving preventative programmes and immunizations against malaria.

I'd love to see this in action. It pleases me to see technology really helping to improve productivity and accuracy of information which in turn helps those at great risk.

I found a short video showcasing EpiSurveyor if you are interested.