Inter-Industry
Partnership to Connect Mobile and Health Industries, With a Focus on
Maternal and Child Health in a Region With Over 15 Million Pregnant
Woman
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa. - Tuesday, July 1st 2014 [ME NewsWire]
(BUSINESS
WIRE) The GSMA today announced that its Mobile for Development mHealth
programme has launched a new cross-ecosystem partnership designed to
provide a range of mHealth services to women and children, with a
particular focus on nutrition, across Sub-Saharan Africa. Initial launch
partners for the initiative include Gemalto, Hello Doctor, Lifesaver,
Mobenzi, Mobilium, MTN, Omega Diagnostics and Samsung. This programme
could have far-reaching impact; 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.
“This new mobile
ecosystem partnership, developed by the GSMA, is committed to connecting
the mobile and health industries to develop commercially sustainable
mHealth services that meet public health needs,” said Tom Phillips,
Chief Regulatory Officer, GSMA. “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.”
The partners will jointly launch services in seven
countries - Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda
and Zambia - from September 2014. 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.
Through these commitments, the partners aim to simplify
the relationships between mobile and health stakeholders, while
maximising the ubiquitous nature of mobile technology and its
capabilities for health providers and, ultimately, for patients. Health
content, patient registration, data collection and critical diagnostics
will increase the access to health care for vulnerable women and
children across Africa, while providing the delivery mechanism for
mHealth services that are commercially sustainable and scalable.
“This
partnership heralds a new era in the delivery of health care in
Sub-Saharan Africa, where currently access to even the most basic of
health services remains the worst in the world. MTN is therefore proud
to be part of this collaborative effort, which will deliver solutions
that harnesses the expertise of some of the leading companies in the
world, to improve access to health care for many of our customers across
the seven launch countries,” said MTN Group Chief Commercial Officer,
Pieter Verkade.
“Current lab based static diagnostics tools are
unable to meet growing patients’ needs as countries step up their HIV
treatment programs in conjunction with the decentralisation of CD4
testing. Multi-layer partnerships for mHealth smartphone applications
are poised to become an essential foundation in the bridge to augment
the continuum of care to the neediest patients, whilst also providing
management information and real time surveillance data,” said Andrew
Shepherd, Founder and Managing Director, Omega Diagnostics Ltd.
“Healthcare
in Africa has benefited greatly from advancements in mobile technology.
Simultaneously, the healthcare industry is moving towards a delivery
model that is more patient-centered, value-based and accessible in even
remote environments. In this regard, Samsung is perfectly positioned to
add value to this digital evolution in healthcare, as our devices are
both at the cutting edge of innovation and available widely across the
continent. These capabilities provide the much needed healthcare support
in Africa, ensuring that we are aligned with the Millennium Development
Goals as set by the United Nations,” said Thabiet Allie, Head of
Content and Services at Samsung Electronics Africa.
For more information please visit www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/programmes/mhealth
-ENDS-
About the GSMA
The
GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning
more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world’s
mobile operators with more than 250 companies in the broader mobile
ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment
providers and Internet companies, as well as organisations in industry
sectors such as financial services, healthcare, media, transport and
utilities. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the
Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Expo.
For more information, please visit the GSMA corporate website at www.gsma.com. Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @GSMA.
Contacts
For the GSMA
Charlie Meredith-Hardy
+44 7917 298428
CMeredith-Hardy@webershandwick.com
Jill Hamilton
+27 826 588 831
jhamilton@webershandwick.com
GSMA Press Office
press@gsma.com
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