Dar to track supply of malaria drugs via SMS
A pilot drugs supply management project called “SMS for Life” has Tanzania authorities excited over its potential.
The project, which brings together IBM, Novartis, Vodafone and the Roll Back Malaria Partnership, taps into a combination of smart technologies to track and manage the supply of anti-malarial drugs.
The concept is the brainchild of students on IBM’s Extreme Blue internship programme and uses IBM’s LotusLive technology.
“SMS for Life” is running in 135 villages and could have far-reaching implications for health systems worldwide. A few weeks after the pilot project kicked off, the number of health facilities with stock-outs in one district alone, was reduced by over 75 per cent.
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.
According to Ministry of Health and Social Welfare senior health officer Winfred Mwafongo, the programme has already had a positive effect in Tanzania.
Mr Mwafongo said that the government has seen district medical officers ordering urgent stock replacements for various health facilities and that the SMS scheme will facilitate the urgent need.
“During a visit to 19 rural health facilities in one district alone, we saw huge improvements in their inventory management systems. We are impressed with the results so far and look forward to following the rest of the pilot project through to completion,” he said.
Tanzania has around 5,000 clinics, hospitals and dispensaries, but at any one time, as many as half that number could be out of stock of anti-malarial drugs.
The initiative uses a combination of mobile phones, SMS technologies and intuitive websites to track and manage the supply of Artemisinin-based Combination Therapy drugs and quinine injectables, both of which are key to reducing the number of deaths from malaria.
Public-private partnership
Norvatis executive vice president and head of the malaria initiatives Silvio Gabriel said that SMS for Life designed as a public and private partnership leveraging the skills and resources of several companies, could have far-reaching implications for existing health systems worldwide.
IBM is managing the overall project while Vodafone developed and is managing the system based on simple SMS messaging that helps ensure dispensaries do not run out of vital stock.
IBM, Novartis and Vodafone initiated a five-month pilot of the SMS for Life solution, covering 135 villages and over a million people across Tanzania.
Vodafone, together with its technology partner MatsSoft, developed a system in which healthcare staff at each facility receive automated SMS messages, that prompt them to check the remaining stock of anti-malarial drugs each week.
Using toll-free numbers, staff reply with an SMS to a central database system hosted in the United Kingdom, providing details of stock levels, and deliveries can be made before supplies run out at local health centres.
The Roll Back Malaria initiative draws its strength and experience from hundreds of partners from malaria endemic countries, country donors, companies, non-governmental and community organisations, foundations and research and academic institutions.
RBM partners’ collective aim is to reduce annual malaria deaths from around one million to virtually zero by 2015 through the implementation of the Global Malaria Action Plan.
More than one million people die from malaria each year, and the real tragedy is that malaria is curable.
Most people die because of shortages of vital anti-malarial drugs at their local health facilities, in spite of the fact that the drugs are free and millions of dollars are already spent in addressing problems in the medicine supply chain in large parts of Africa.
Mr Peter Ward, of IBM, SMS for Life Project Manager said that this is an example of a truly innovative solution helping solve a humanitarian problem.
Mr Ward said that after spending time on the ground, we created a project plan, developed the application with Vodafone and Novartis and established the best way to deliver the pilot, working with the Tanzanian Ministry of Health.
“We expect other countries will also be able to benefit in the future,” he said.
Vodafone has worked closely with IBM, Novartis and MatsSoft, to develop a simple, robust and innovative system that is able to deliver even in the most remote African communities.
Dianne Sullivan, Scientific Adviser, Mobile Health, of Vodafone said that the SMS for Life solution shows the tremendous potential of mobile technology to deliver social good through lateral thinking by helping to ensure supplies of life-saving drugs.
Dr Sullivan said that collaboration is critical to tackle health problems of the developing world.
“We are proud to be part of the SMS for Life partnership, a project that will reduce stock-outs, and ensure that mothers and their young children in Africa have access to life-saving anti-malarial medicines,” she said.
Silvio Gabriel, Executive Vice President and Head of the Malaria Initiatives at Novartis said that the designed as a public and private partnership leveraging the skills and resources of several companies, SMS for Life could have far-reaching implications for existing health systems worldwide.
Mr Gabriel said that several other African states are already keen to introduce the project.
“The RBM Partnership is the global coordinator of the fight against malaria,” he said.
RBM draws its strength and experience from hundreds of partners from malaria endemic countries, country donors, companies, non-governmental and community organisations, foundations and research and academic institutions.
RBM partners’ collective aim is to reduce annual malaria deaths from around one million to virtually zero by 2015 through the implementation of the Global Malaria Action Plan (GMAP).
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