world-changing people, projects and ideas
Register for PopTech 2010. | Sign up for our newsletter. | We're hiring!
The Solution
The mobile phone as life-saving device
Project Masiluleke harnesses the mobile phone as a high-impact, low-cost tool in the fight against HIV/AIDS and TB. Nearly 100% of South Africans have access to a mobile device and the project touches virtually every one of them. Conservative estimates indicate Project Masiluleke has the potential to mobilize hundreds of thousands to get tested.
The key elements and stages of Project Masiluleke include:
“Please Call Me” x 1 Million x 365 – The first stage of the project is built around the use of specialized text messages, delivering approximately 1,000,000 HIV/AIDS and TB messages each day to the general public. These messages are broadcast in the unused space of “Please Call Me” (PCM) text messages – a special, free form of SMS text widely used in South Africa and across the continent. Utilizing technology from the Praekelt Foundation, message content from iTeach, design insights from frog design, and network capacity donated by MTN, the messages connect mobile users to existing HIV and TB call centers. Trained operators provide callers with accurate healthcare information, counseling and referrals to local testing clinics.
Since the project’s launch, over 685 million PCM messages have been sent throughout South Africa, driving over 1.5 million calls to the National AIDS Helpline.
TxtAlert: Keeping Patients Connected to Care – Only 10% of South Africans with AIDS are currently receiving anti-retroviral (ARV) therapy, and of those who begin treatment, more than 40% do not remain on the life-saving drugs past two years. Project Masiluleke addresses this critical problem through the Praekelt Foundation’s TxtAlert technology, which uses text messaging to remind patients of scheduled clinic visits – helping to ensure they adhere to ARV regimens.
HIV Self-Testing with Mobile Phone Support – Ultimately, with more HIV+ citizens than any other country in the world, and infection rates topping 40% in some provinces, South Africa demands a radical solution to truly reverse its HIV/AIDS and TB crises. The project partners are developing a breakthrough distributed diagnostics model: low cost HIV self-testing with counseling support via mobile phone. Analogous to a pregnancy test, these distributed diagnostics will provide a free, private and reliable way for anyone to take the critical first step of knowing his or her status, with high-quality information provided via mobile device.
Self-testing does raise some serious questions, which require thoughtful analysis and careful planning. However, these concerns must be weighed against the ability to achieve wide-scale testing and earlier entry into care through an option that empowers patients and alleviates stigma. Early response from local health officials, national clinical associations and other leaders in healthcare has been strongly enthusiastic. Most important, feedback from the community confirms individuals are eager to have access to an HIV self-test, with both patients and healthcare workers preferring counseling via cell phone. The Project M team will initiate a global conversation about this and other potentially transformative solutions applicable in South Africa and worldwide. frog design and iTeach are collaborating on visionary design strategies which can guide a possible implementation of this solution.