What cell phones are doing in Malawi
UNICEF has an interesting story about some of the work they’re doing in collaboration with Columbia University to aid nutrition surveillance with the assistance of RapidSMS. You can read the full story here.
David Banda is a health extension worker who—thanks to the project—now uses his mobile phone to record and transmit nutrition information on the 70 or more under-five children he monitors every month.
“I have no other means of sending the information,” he said. “We have no fax machine in this remote village.”
Before the RapidSMS system was introduced, Banda used to cycle 19 miles every month to deliver the completed surveillance questionnaires to the district health office, and he would receive no feedback. In his 20-year career, he never imagined the day would come when data transmission would be done at the click of a button.
When his health center was chosen to be part of the RapidSMS pilot, Banda and his fellow surveillance assistants were trained on-site for about three hours on how to register and send the information. A poster and sheet-card containing instructions was also provided for quick reference.
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