The new mobile technology program in Kenya and South Africa tries to overcome the shortcomings of the overburdened health system coupled with shortage of medical professionals and high prices and lack of availability of medicines. Women are more adversely affected in this whole scenario where they are not only easy victims of the virus but have to also act as caregivers to the affected and to the increasing number of orphans.
Approximately five million South Africans and two million Kenyans are infected with HIV. Both countries are implementing anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment programs, but to date have had marginal success.
Remote locations without computers or even electricity face steep challenges in terms of the implementation of drug programs. People miss their appointments either because they have limited access to transport or because they simply cant afford the fare, and dangerous side effects from the drugs become an even greater danger where time and access to communication is a matter of life or death.
Innovative use of information and communication technology in these countries has helped in providing information about the virus and has also helped in treatment of the disease. In Kenya, One World has launched a service using text messages whereby people can text questions regarding HIV/AIDS to a special number and receive a reply. Daily tips are also sent out to subscribers detailing how to prevent and deal with infection. Information is held in a database in both the English and Swahili languages.
In South Africa, a new mobile phone software system called Cell Life is providing a virtual infrastructure where there is no actual infrastructure. 40 per cent of South Africas population uses mobile phones, and the network covers 90 per cent of the country making mobile technology a significant partner in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
In both these countries mobile technology is widely used, popular among the younger generations who are the most vulnerable to HIV/AIDS, cheap and requires little infrastructure. Harnessing this type of technology is an innovative step forward in the fight against HIV/AIDS.
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