Cellphones Join Battle Against HIV/Aids

Thanks to an innovative application of cellphone technology, a South African clinic is on the verge of becoming a paperless operation, reports All Africa.

"A Cape-based project called Cell-Life has developed software and data management systems that enable the centre's health workers to monitor patients who are on AIDS drugs and pick up problems before they become life-threatening.

Most of the 525 HIV patients who get their pills from the centre take three drugs roughly 12 hours apart. It is vital that patients take their pills without fail; even missing one in 20 can cause the medicines to become less effective against HIV.

Hannan Crusaid's 40 counsellors have been trained to use cellphones equipped with a special menu that allows them to capture data about patients' symptoms and pill taking as well as other factors that might affect their health such as lack of money to pay for transport to the clinic, or a shortage of food.

The information is relayed instantly over Vodacom's GSM network to a central database, which can be accessed by clinic staff over a secure connection.

In addition to their scheduled visits, counsellors arrive unannounced once every four months to do a pill count. The information they collect is compared with clinic data on the number of pills issued to patients, and enables staff to spot looming trouble.

The cellphones are not used to remind HIV patients to take their pills, partly because they are encouraged to manage their own health, but also because it would not be practical to send mass alerts on a long-term basis. "People will be taking these pills for years. There's no way they'd respond to messages two or three times a day on a cellphone they'd switch them off."

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emily | 5:35 PM | Health Issues and SMS Alerts |
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