GSMA’s Mobile for Development mHealth programme has launched a new cross-ecosystem partnership designed to provide a range of mHealth services to women and children. The programme will have a particular focus on nutrition, across Sub-Saharan Africa. According to GSMA Intelligence, there is a total annual, addressable market of 15.5 million pregnant women and mothers with children under five years of age and the programme is set to improve their livelihoods.
“The companies in this partnership are working to deliver the objectives of the United Nations Every Women Every Child Global Strategy, as well as the Global Nutrition for Growth Compact, in the areas of nutrition and maternal and child health. We call on mobile ecosystem players, health providers, governments, NGOs, civil society and others to work with us to launch life-saving mobile health services.†said Tom Phillips, Chief Regulatory Officer, GSMA.
From September 2014, services will be launched jointly in the following seven countries: Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia. Phase two, which commences in 2015, will incorporate additional partners and services and will address four more countries: Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. Collectively, the partnership will reduce barriers to handset ownership and connectivity for consumers and health workers by committing to:
- Offer discounted Samsung handsets and tablets to consumers and health workers across Africa;
- Provide access to the Samsung ecosystem (e.g. music, video and other value-added services) to be used as an incentive to drive health usage;
- Pre-embed a Smart Health application that provides a range of professional applications, information and services on 80 million Samsung handsets;
- Leverage existing and new MTN SIMs to allow free access to health content, health registration and data collection via the Smart Health application;
- Provide simplified access to MTN mobile money, advertising and billing capabilities; and
- Make innovative diagnostics like the Omega Diagnostics Visitect HIV CD4 point of care solution more affordable and accessible via mobile integration.
Initial launch partners for the initiative include Gemalto, Hello Doctor, Lifesaver, Mobenzi, Mobilium, MTN, Omega Diagnostics and Samsung.