[kictanet] Of Vision 2030 and Misplaced Priorities

Sat Jun 4 15:23:09 EAT 2011

Dear Listers,

Please see below a few examples of e-health projects in Africa which IBM
has helped implement.  Most of them are through public private
partnerships. The technology exists and probably the question is how to we
assist the government to implement such solutions in Kenya.

'SMS for Life' project by IBM, Novartis and Vodafone in Tanzania

THE PROBLEM:
   Malaria causes nearly one million deaths in Africa each year, mostly
   among pregnant women and young children, and many people die because
   they simply lack quick access to vital medication.

THE INNOVATION:
   A new solution developed by IBM ,Novartis and Vodafone with the Roll
   Back Malaria Partnership, is helping to save lives using everyday
   technology to improve the availability of anti-malarial drugs in remote
   areas of Tanzania
   Called "SMS for Life," the initiative uses a combination of mobile
   phones, SMS (Short Messaging Service) technologies and intuitive web
   sites to track and manage the supply of Artemisinin-based Combination
   Therapy (ACT) drugs and Quinine injectables, both of which are key to
   reducing the number of deaths from malaria.

RESULTS
   During the first few weeks of the pilot, the number of health facilities
   with stock-outs in one district alone, was reduced by over 75%
   The early success of the SMS for Life pilot project has the Tanzanian
   authorities interested in implementing the solution across the rest of
   the country.

Project Hope and Comfort - in Cross River State, Nigeria

THE PROBLEM:
   Cross River State suffers from some of the worst child and infant
   mortality rates in the African region – many from preventable, treatable
   causes.
   250 out of every 1000 children in the state die before reaching the age
   of five.
   Two-thousand out of every 100,000 women die during child birth.

 INNOVATION
   Projects Hope and Comfort depend on the mass registration of citizens
   for free healthcare and financial support
   Working with government departments, healthcare workers and local IBM
   business partner, they have been able to bring to bear IBM's global
   expertise in advanced technologies such as biometric identification
   systems and solar energy to increase the efficiency, reliability,
   accuracy of the systems.

THE OUTCOME:
   To date, around 130,000 mothers and children have registered to receive
   free healthcare through project Hope and another 5,600 families have
   registered for financial support through project Comfort.
   Goal to reduce child and maternal mortality rates by 50% by the end of
   2011 and halve the number of people living in abject poverty by 2015.

Kind Regards

 Maureen Muthua                              2nd Floor, Africa Re Center       (Embedded 
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 Territory                                   Hospital Rd, Upper Hill, P.O.               
 Marketing and                              Box 35475 00200                              
 Communications                                                                          
 Manager                                                                                 

 IBM East                                    Nairobi, KENYA                              
 Africa                                                                                  

 Phone:         +254 20 2834 000                                                         

 Mobile:        +254 722 740 884                                                         

 e-mail:        maureenm at ke.ibm.com                                                      

  From:       "Victor Gathara" <vgathara at vimak.co.ke>                                                                                             

  To:         Maureen Muthua/Kenya/IBM at IBMZA                                                                                                      

  Cc:         "'KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions'" <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>                                                                 

  Date:       2011/06/03 02:54 PM                                                                                                                 

  Subject:    Re: [kictanet] Of Vision 2030 and Misplaced Priorities                                                                              

  Sent by:    kictanet-bounces+maureenm=ke.ibm.com at lists.kictanet.or.ke                                                                           

While in DFiD I  got involved in a project with WHO to help MOMS come up
with a eHealth strategy. Sad to have left without seeing the final document
but I basically came to question the level of buy in from government for
this. A couple of years ago an AfriHealth conference basically concluded
that there was a lot of silo working and ‘pilotitis’ in this field.

It would be good to see whether the strategy was ever completed and
launched. I believe a lister led in drafting it. There is a lot that can be
done with IT in health if the will is there but you need the structures in
place first.

Victor

From: kictanet-bounces+vgathara=vimak.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke [
mailto:kictanet-bounces+vgathara=vimak.co.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke] On
Behalf Of Edith Adera
Sent: 02 June 2011 22:29
To: vgathara at vimak.co.ke
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Of Vision 2030 and Misplaced Priorities

Very sad indeed!

I was faced with the same problem in March and the poor lady died right
before our eyes - her relatives called me when it was too late and they did
not have a cent to take her to hospital, so they feared even going there
without money! I was surprised to learn that even Kenyatta hospital does
not take any patient without money!

                                    I was so sad to face the reality
thatyou can die justbecause you are poor and not because there's no
treatment for your illness.

                                    In his recent experience with cancer,
Hon. Anyang Nyongodrovethis point home! BUT - if a Minister for Health can
say this, what chance does a mere mortal have to live?

                                    There are many examples of eHealth
initiatives thathave saved lives e.g. Uganda Health information Network,
Mozambique Health Information Network,pulsa plus HIV/AIDs project in South
Africa using cellphones, cell life in South Africaetc

                                    Edith
                                    ________________
Edith Ofwona Adera
Senior Program Specialist
ICT4D Program and Climate Change & Water Program
International Development Research Centre | Centre de recherches pour le
développement international
Regional Office for Eastern and Southern Africa
Tel: +254202713160 | Fax/Téléc: +254202711063 | Skype: edithadera
eadera at idrc.or.ke | www.idrc.ca | www.crdi.ca

From: kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.or.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke
[kictanet-bounces+eadera=idrc.or.ke at lists.kictanet.or.ke] On Behalf Of
Barrack Otieno [otieno.barrack at gmail.com]
Sent: 02 June 2011 13:22
To: Edith Adera
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Subject: [kictanet] Of Vision 2030 and Misplaced Priorities
Dear Listers,

I wonder whether i have used the right title for this post. I have had an
interesting month and i thought i should share some of my experiences from
the Bundus and the City as well. Three weeks ago i visit Ebuyangu Village
somewhere between Gem and Emuhaya to look for my childhood football coach,
while combing the area i meet one resident by the name Harambee who
gleefully agrees to help me find my former coach. I asked him some of the
challenges they are facing and was taken aback by his answer 'Watu wanakufa
sana, sijui ni nini' (Translated There are too many deaths, i don't know
what is happening) I tried squeezing more information from him and realised
the problem is Malaria and waterbone diseases (of course there is River
Yala in the hood), it is common knowledge that this are Malaria prone areas
and many of us who hail from the region take preventive measures before
travelling but it appears this information is simply not readily available
to the villages, how can we prevent this unnecessary and avoidable deaths
through ICT? do we have developement partners and or government agencies
prepared to invest in e-health initiatives that will reverse this trends?
or better still are all this noble initiatives and flagship projects
targeting Nairobians (where the real Kenya is?) no wonder everyone is
fleeing the countryside to be close to the city, we might end up building
Malili Technolopolis and lack customers for the same as has been the case
in the past, it is good we are boasting and fighting about Mobile money, 3G
and the rest which is good but i guess the greatest wealth a nation can
ever have are healthy citizens.

On 1st of June i find myself in another weird situation involving health
facilities we have an emergency case which several health Facilities say
they cannot handle but instead of advising on what we should do they advise
us to run around and look for options, the saddest bit is this are
respected health facilities that have 'professional' Doctors and Nurses, to
cut the long story, proffessionals hoarding information on what we should
do so that we can do something (what a shame on this great republic), i was
left wondering where does the poor man go, he may as well just die in his
little hut because he doesn't know what to do. When i looked at the bill
and compared it to the service rendered your guess is as good as mine.

I wonder whether its a high time we channeled the same effort and
investment we have made in Mobile Money, BPOs and Fibre into Electronic
Health, anyone with successfull case studies to start us off, othewise we
might all be swept away by an epidemic before we Vision 2030 materialises.

--
Barrack O. Otieno
Afriregister Ltd (Kenya)
www.afriregister.bi, www.afriregister.com
ICANN accredited registrar
+254721325277
+254-20-2498789
Skype: barrack.otieno
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