Originally posted on the GBI Portal – Page 35

ICT4 Greener Economy in Developing Countries: Mini Conference

Credit: Sustain2Green

As the Rio+20 draws near, a number of international conferences and summits aim at deliberating on sustainable environment and climate change across the globe are being convened. One of such is the mini conference on ICT for a Greener Economy in Developing Countries to be held next month (October 25^th) in the Netherlands.

The ‘ICT for a Greener Economy in Developing Countries’ mini-conference is an event that will explore and highlight the key role Information and Communication Technology (ICTs) play in moving towards greener economies. It is being organized on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD). The conference will bring together experts in the area of climate change and ICTs including Kentaro Toyama, the co-founder of Microsoft Research (MSR) India and a prominent scholar in ICT4D with the name ICT4D jester.

The conference will also see the official launching of “Bits4green initiative” which was set up by IICD, the Dutch corporate sector and World PC. The initiative focuses on reducing energy consumption and e-waste in developing countries. By supporting Bits4Green, companies show that they are investing in clean energy and actively working on a global reduction of electronic waste and energy use in developing countries. It also creates opportunities for entrepreneurs in the IT industry to actively contribute to a more sustainable and green use of ICT.

The design, production, use and disposal of information and communications technologies (ICTs) are contributing to the global environmental crisis. Even though the ICT sector’s contribution to global CO2 emissions is at the low side compare to other sectors (2–2.5%), it is projected to double by 2020. Developing countries are paying more for ICTs at the end of their life cycles (disposal) where, vast quantities of ICTs become highly specialized waste that includes environmentally hazardous metals like lead, mercury and cadmium, as well as toxic flame retardants and plastics. According to the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), about 80% of all the e‑waste that is diverted – out of a yearly global e‑waste production of about 40 million tones is exported to developing countries such as China, India, Pakistan, Vietnam, the Philippines, Malaysia, Nigeria and Ghana.

At the same time, the expectations of developing countries to take advantage of the green economy through sustained growth model which will feature environmental-friendly technologies, use more renewable resources, and reduce green house gas (GHG) emissions, is high. Major developing countries like China have been sparing no efforts in developing green economy, which is widely regarded as a viable way of restoring job growth, reducing poverty and achieving a more sustainable economy. A joint report Why a Green Economy Matters for the Least Developed Countries issued at the start of the 4^th UN conference by the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the UN Office of the High Representative for the Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS) and launched in Istanbul this year also points to the economic and human development opportunities of a green economy transition for the world’s least developed countries (LDCs). The report argues that LDCs face unprecedented vulnerabilities across a range of challenges and a the shift to a global green economy can put LDCs in an opportune position if the right enabling policies are put in place nationally and internationally.

The time to weigh the pros and cons of ICTs and green economy in the developing nations is now!

September 28, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Health, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

AfriHealth Conference, Nairobi, 30 November – 1 December 2011

AITEC announces expert speaker line-up for AfriHealth Conference, Nairobi, 30 November – 1 December 2011

OPENING PLENARY

Consolidating the gains of technological innovation in healthcare through effective management

Professor Yunkap Kwankam, Executive Director, International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth (ISfTeH), Switzerland

Aiming for a more integrated approach in healthcare delivery at national and local levels

Dr Katherine Getao, Head of eGovernment, Office of the President, Kenya

The economics of eHealth

Professor Maurice Mars, Head, Department of Telehealth, University of KwaZulu-Natal & President, South African Telemedicine Association

Ericsson’s mHealth Solutions – use cases and success criteria to enhance healthcare delivery

Rainer Herzog, Head of Strategy & Business Development mHealth & eHealth, Ericsson

mHealth: Turning hype into delivery

mHealth reaches puberty: Hype & hyperventilation

Bright Simons, Founder, mPedigree, Ghana

Using mobile telephony as an innovative communication channel for family planning

Bas Hoefman, Text to Change, Kenya

mHealth and the required ecosystem in East Africa

John Kieti, mLab, Kenya

PLENARY 2

An overview of latest worldwide trends in telemedicine

Frank Lievens, Board Member & Secretary, International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth, Belgium

Addressing the fragile environment of e-health in resource-limited settings

Dr Christoph Larsen, synaLinQ, Vietnam & Kenya

Accessing funding for healthcare initiatives in Africa

Ken Nwosu, eHealth Ontario & McMaster University MSc eHealth Programme, Canada

Pharmaceutical management

Anti-counterfeit systems for pharmaceuticals

David Svarrer, CEO, Digital Age Institute, Kenya

Using IT for improved pharmaceutical care delivery in developing countries: A case study of Benin

Dr Thierry Oscar Edoh,University of Bonn & German Federal Army University of Munich, Germany

Case Studies 2

A Multilingual Expert System for Ubiquitous Diseases Diagnosis (MESUDD)

Dr John Oladosu, Lecturer, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, Nigeria

Community-based eHealth promotion for safe motherhood- A case study from Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, Pakistan

Dr Shariq Khoja, Director AKDN eHealth Resource Centre, Aga Khan University, Kenya

Business models for effective service delivery: Rural Health Systems

Changing African healthcare through private sector technology innovations

Steve Landman, CEO, Carego International, Kenya & USA

Leveraging telehealth to improve child maternal health

Iboun Sylla, Business Development Manager, Texas Instruments, USA

National e-health policy development: The Commonwealth approach

Dr Sylvia Anie, Director, Social Transformation Programmes Division, Commonwealth Secretariat, UK, and Dr Adesina Iluyemi and Tom Jones^,Directors, TinTree International eHealth and Consultants, Commonwealth Secretariat, UK

PANEL DISCUSSION

What are the best practice achievements that can be replicated across the continent?

MODERATOR

Professor Yunkap Kwankam, Executive Director, International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth (ISfTeH), Switzerland

PANEL MEMBERS

Lucy Fulgence Silas, Country Director for Tanzania, D-Tree International

Dr Moretlo Molefi, MD, Telemedicine Africa, South Africa

Dr Catherine Omaswa, Chairperson, National eHealth Committee, Uganda

Dr Wuleta Lemma, Director, Tulane Technical Assistant Program (TUTAP) Ethiopia

WORKSHOP 1

Open source healthcare information systems

Nurhizam Safie, United Nations University, International Institute of Global Health (UNU-IIGH), Faculty of Medicine, National University of Malaysia

Open Source health information systems offer an alternative to proprietary healthcare information systems. Currently, most developing countries have a tight financial budget for their healthcare services and cannot afford the high cost of licence fees imposed by proprietary healthcare information system providers. Therefore, open source healthcare information systems are an attractive alternative to be introduced in the healthcare services of developing countries. By using open source healthcare information systems, the healthcare providers such as hospitals and clinics can improve the efficiency of services, reduce licensing and maintenance costs in managing information systems, as well as catering for future scaleability and growth.

Among the available open source healthcare information systems, MEDICAL has been chosen for this workshop because MEDICAL is a multi-user, highly scaleable and centralised system which provides the following functionality:

Electronic Medical Record (EMR)
Hospital Information System (HIS)
Health Information System

This workshop is intended for users who want to get a better introductory functional understanding of MEDICAL. The workshop offers a thorough knowledge in usability and understanding of two critical modules, namely Patient Management and Financial Management.

Objectives

Having attended this workshop, participants should be able to:

Understand the concept of open source health information systems.
Understand the functional concepts of MEDICAL modules, namely Patient Management and Financial Management.
Understand the development concepts and architecture of MEDICAL.
Workshop Content

Introduction to MEDICAL and Basic Settings

Introduction to MEDICAL: Vision and Mission
Architecture: Supported operating systems, databases & ERPs
The modular concept framework
The MEDICAL development environment.
Introduction to Sourceforge and SVN
Introduction to Transifex: The translation and localization portal

Patient Management

Patient registration
Emergency department /ambulatory
Outpatient/In-patient
Admission, discharge & transfer (ADT)
Appointment & scheduling
Resource scheduling
Medical record management
Report & statistics

Financial Management

Charging, billing & invoicing
General ledgers
Accounts receivable/payable
Cash book management
Reporting

WORKSHOP 2

Using theCasemix system for health finance management

Prof Dr Syed Aljunid, Professor of Health Economics and Senior Research Fellow, UN University International Institute for Global Health, Faculty of Medicine, National University of Malaysia

This workshop is designed to introduce participants to the Casemix system for enhancement in quality and efficiency of healthcare services . Casemix experts from the UN University International Institute for Global Health will share their experience in implementing Casemix systems in a number of developing countries globally. The workshop will provide an overview of Casemix, its evolution from the first version introduced in the 1980s by Professor Robert Fetter from Yale University, to the present day where the system has been implemented in more than one hundred countries worldwide. Minimum dataset requirements for Casemix systems will be discussed in detail, including requirements for diagnoses and procedures coding using the ICD classification system. Benefits of using Casemix as a prospective provider payment mechanism under social health insurance programmes will be presented in this workshop. Software currently available to support implementation of Casemix system will be demonstrated including the recently launched the UNU-CBG Casemix Grouper, a universal, dynamic and advanced grouper software. Proposed plan for implementation of Casemix system under the UNU-IIGH programme will be presented in this Workshop.

Workshop Objectives:

At the end of the workshop, participants should be able to:

Understand the concept of the Casemix system
Appreciate the role of Casemix in enhancing quality and efficiency of healthcare services.
Design the basic minimum dataset package for Casemix Implementation.
Have basic knowledge on the use of UNU-CBG Casemix Grouper

Workshop Content:

Casemix:: An introduction
Minimum Dataset for the Casemix system
Supporting software for Casemix
Implementation of Casemix in developing countries for health financing

To register as a delegate, log on to www.aitecafrica.com or email info@aitecafrica.com

September 28, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

iPads in Rural Agriculture: Glitz Toys or ICT4Ag Business Tool?

This month’s Technology Salon ICT4Ag – Enriching rural coffee farmers via iPads raised a couple of eyebrows from the outset. How can Exprima Media and Sustainable Harvest realistically improve rural coffee farming via iPads?

Initially, it struck me as another attempt to use the latest and greatest technology to tackle longstanding challenges within the value chain, rather than making use of simple and often effective locally generated tech as we have seen with M-Pessa and other innovations.

But there’s more to this project than merely exporting a glitzy trend to coffee farmers and suppliers in far-flung places. Two features appeal to me most: a) the range and utility of the apps; and b) the business model.

Relationship Information Tracking System App

Exprima Media and Sustainable Harvest partnered to develop a suite of traceability and efficiency tools called a Relationship Information Tracking System (RITS apps). The RITS Producer app promises to rapidly improve the operations of coffee co-ops. It functions as a set of supply chain management tools designed to record and track who produced specific quantities of coffee, how they produced it, how it is milled and where it ends up.

This is transformational because logistics is one of the more intractable challenges in the value chain. These traceability functions will enable better quality control because farmers who need to improve production practices can be pinpointed and aided.

The suite of apps also tackles the need for improved training opportunities for coffee farmers and co-op personnel. The RITS Ed app delivers instructional content in video format. Video is a great educational tool because it eliminates the risk of lessons being lost in translation. This exposure to best practices in agronomy, organic compost production, financial literacy among other topics, is likely to improve the quality and quantity of crop yields. To top this off, there’s the RITS Matrix app which simplifies and walks coffee farmers through the often complex organic certification process.

The RITS app design highlights the value of an anthropological approach to ICT4D. The apps were specifically fashioned for cross-cultural use (varied languages, cultural and industry imperatives considered).

Furthermore, the iPad was chosen because its the most intuitive and rugged platform to get the big benefits of computing (automation, info sharing) in the hands of farmers. The simplicity of the user interface also enhance usability by those with limited computer literacy, thereby reducing the need for heavy investment of scare resources (money and time) in training.

RITS App Business Model

However, it is the business model that appeals to me most. According to the project pioneers, “iPads are not expensive toys, they are a business tool”. The iPads are expected to pay for themselves in increased co-op productivity (supply chain management and higher quality coffee).

The project doesn’t aim to get an iPad in the hands of every coffee farmer. In fact, the aim is to place it within existing infrastructure. For instance, equipping cooperatives and extension centers, which will enable greater support for farmer training, advisory services, cooperative planning and management.

Though still a centralized model, this approach tackles the seminal issue of affordability. While the cost of an iPad might be onerous for an individual coffee farmer, a co-op would fare better: Two bags of coffee weighing roughly 300 pounds, contributed by a large group, is equivalent to the cost of an iPad.

But the issue of cost goes deeper. App creation, especially on the iPad, is still expensive. The suite of RITS apps boasts a price tag of several hundred thousand—far too expensive for the co-ops to afford. Sustainable Harvest is looking to subsidy from its partners (software developers, coffee buyers etc) to combat this.

September 28, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

‘Smart Regulation for a Broadband World’: Implications for ICT4D

Credit: FTC

The 11^th annual Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) ended in Armenia City, Colombia on Friday September 23^rd with the adoption of innovative regulatory measures labeled as “smart regulation for a broadband world” to promote the roll out of Internet broadband globally.

In light of the enormous potential benefits of broadband, ‘access’ has become a determining factor for individuals, communities, nations and regions. But what makes the outcome of the Colombia symposium more interesting is the agreement on a range of policy issues that must be addressed as broadband expands. These are summarized in the ‘Smart Regulation for a Broadband World’ idea of the symposium, which brought up some best practice guidelines aimed at advancing the deployment of broadband connectivity worldwide. This includes:

a) M-banking services and the role of regulators

b) Wireless broadband spectrum pricing

c) Satellite regulation

d) Open access regulation

e) Setting national broadband policies, strategies and plans

f) Financing universal access/service

g) E-waste and recycling and the role of regulators

h) Protecting rights, such as intellectual property, of all stakeholders in a digital ecosystem

i) Regional initiatives to foster broadband connectivity

The successful implementation of each of the above nine policy issues in any country depends on the national telecommunication regulatory apparatus of the country. The symposium pointed out clearly how years of regulatory reforms play an essential role in creating an environment where new technologies can flourish. The ITU Telecommunication Development Bureau Director Brahima Sanou stated “the development of robust and flexible regulatory frameworks can help developing countries leapfrog technologies and make the best use of new developments in ICTs”. The ITU Secretary-General Hamadoun Touré also explained that, increased access to the Internet – and broadband in particular – will allow for more effective delivery of services to meet the Millennium Development Goals as e-applications such as e-health, e-education, and e-governance that are able to reach even the remotest corners of the world. The statement concluded that this would only change when broadband becomes more affordable and the GSR can facilitate this by advocating a combination of increased capacity and competition.

Broadband – high speed Internet continues to play a pivotal role as an enabler of change in the global economy by affecting virtually every sector, especially the services sector that rely on the provision of data and information. Countries participating in the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) have set the ambitious goal of connecting all villages of the world to ICTs by 2015, including establishing community access points, and connecting universities, schools, libraries, post offices, health centers, and local governments. Considered as the right of every citizen, Finland has become the first country in the world to make broadband a legal right for every citizen, beginning July 1^st 2010. Every Finn will have the right to access at least 1Mbps (megabit per second) broadband connection and to connect everyone to a 100Mbps connection by 2015.

Internet broadband has the potential to spur rapid economic growth and facilitate job creation. According to a recent UN report, broadband plays an essential role in the creation of ‘Knowledge Societies’, which are based on the principles of freedom of expression; universal access to information and knowledge; respect for cultural and linguistic diversity, and high quality education for all. Access to broadband ensures full participation of all in the Information Society, a major policy goal, and the implementation of which brings all the benefits and transformational opportunities of ICTs.

The Global Symposium for Regulators (GSR) is an annual event held in different regions worldwide that is aimed at fostering constructive exchange of information among national regulatory authorities. It is a unique forum to share regulatory best practices at the global level. Held for the first time in Latin America, the eleventh GSR focused on innovative regulatory measures to promote the roll out of broadband globally. This years’ symposium saw as many as 504 participants attending, including 243 representatives from 72 countries and Palestine. In addition, 261 representatives from 42 public and private sector companies as well as regional and international organizations participated.

In a nutshell, Internet broadband in itself is not an end: it is an important means of meeting a wide variety of goals in highly diverse sectors. For the ICT4D dreams to be realized, governments must ensure sound development and implementation of national broadband plans or risk losing the benefits of the global high-speed digital communications. The potential for using high speed Internet technology to help expand access and quality of health care through telemedicine – the delivery of quality health care services through ICTs are valuable than ever. High speed Internet is enhancing every level of education from kindergarten through high school to college to graduate school. It is empowering people with disabilities to become more independent, and the utility of community and public libraries that serve the majority is increased. It has become a catalyst for attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of the UN.

September 27, 2011/by actualize

Humanitarian Assistance, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

USAID invites the public to join relief efforts in the Horn of Africa

Famine War Drought Relief on a dark background with a red African Map

FWD Campaign Logo

Rajiv Shah, Administrator of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)—in partnership with the Ad Council, launched last week the “FWD campaign”; an initiative that highlights the devastating effects of the crises in the Horn of Africa and encourages people to spread awareness. You can donate $10 by texting “GIVE” to 777444 famine relief.

FWD stands for Famine, War, Drought: the three root causes of the dire situation in the Horn. The campaign is also a call to action—that people get informed, get engaged and forward this information on to their friends, colleagues, and families.

The FWD campaign is a novel USAID initiative that aims to improve communication with the American public and share information. “Frankly, it’s the first foray the agency is taking into open government, open data, and citizen engagement online,” said Haley Van Dyck, Director of Digital Strategy at USAID. The goal is to make data open and sharable to tell stories about the crisis and the work being done on the ground in an interactive way.

Open government, open data

One of FWD’s objectives is to make information, data and maps easily accessible to online audiences. To this end, USAID provides infographics, interactive maps and tool kits that people can use to learn about the crisis in simple, clear ways—and more importantly share that information with others. The agency builds the maps with open source mapping tools and data sets publicly accessible on data.gov. The six interactive maps available provide details on food insecurity, drought, affected populations, refugees and Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) movements as well as USAID’s response.

Citizen engagement

To raise awareness and engage the public using social media, USAID has partnered with Google, Facebook and Twitter to make information-sharing as easy as searching, tweeting or updating one’s status. There’s also a series of Public Service Announcements (PSA) that will air in major media markets throughout the country. These PSA’s will be made available on the agency’s website, as well as on YouTube.

The fundraising component of the FWD encourages people to donate $10 to famine relief by texting “GIVE” to 777444. The agency is partnering NGOs delivering critical assistance in the Horn. General Mills has agreed to match the first 2,000 text donations that come through the FWD campaign, up to $20,000.

A need for urgent response

Alarming facts about the crisis in the Horn should prompt the public to follow in the footsteps of Andrew Andasi, an 11-year-old

Ghanaian schoolboy, who used social media tools to raise $4,000—as of August—for famine victims. The crisis is killing, starving, or displacing over 13 million people. It is the worst drought in 60 years and the worst famine in 20 within a context of continued violence. In Somalia, one child dies every six minutes: the time it will take to finish this piece.

Getting involved is as simple as texting “GIVE” to 777444 to donate $10. More importantly, you can “FWD—forward—the facts” by tweeting, e-mailing, and updating your Facebook status to spread awareness about the crisis. The FWD campaign is an innovative way to engage citizens into action by making data easily accessible to the public.

September 27, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

MTN Nigeria, Safaricom Kenya, and Vodacom SA are influential African telecom operators

It may come as no surprise that the majority of African telecom operators have Twitter accounts. To succeed in an increasingly competitive marketplace, every companies must ensure a positive user experience. What better way to communicate with customers than through social media, most notably Facebook and Twitter? Twitter feeds can supply news and product information. In turn, consumers can act as PR vehicles. Moreover, no force in business is greater than the power of one – the consumer. Personal interaction between company and consumer not only spurs immediate user retention, but seeds word-of-mouth recommendation.

That said, some telecom operators in Africa are more involved in social media efforts. Not surprisingly, the most influential hail from Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa. All of these nations have substantial online user bases where customers are engaged with social media. Essentially, these companies have a greater chance of having their message spread and adopted throughout the Internet.

Klout believes that every person who creates content online has influence. Their goal is to understand what they are influential about and who they are influencing. Klout analyzes interaction among 10 networks including Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, with more on the way. They look at how many people you influence (true reach), how much you influence people (amplification), and the influence of the people in your reach (your network). Then, the algorithm assigns a single score from 10-100 indicating how meaningful/trustworthy/awesome an account is.

Klout scores for African telecom operators, based on @oafrica/african-telecom-operators Twitter list. {Klout}

Using a Twitter list, sourced from the Wikipedia List of mobile network operators of the Middle East and Africa and a list of operators from Africa & Middle East Telecom Week, Klout is able to run each account through its algorithm to determine how strong of an influence the brand has across the Internet.

According to Klout, MTN Nigeria, Safaricom Kenya, and Vodacom SA are the most influential telecom operators in Africa. Impressively, Orange Kenya, Tigo Tanzania, and inwi Maroc all have Klout accounts. The PR teams at these telecoms are certainly ahead of the game in Africa, let alone globally. Also:

Nigeria: MTN leads with a score of 78. Etisalat and Glo are near equals in terms of influence (64 and 60, respectively), with Airtel and Starcomms behind (38 and 29, respectively)
South Africa: Vodacom leads with a score of 69. Cell C and MTN are nearly equal (59 and 55, respectively), with Virgin Mobile back at 41.
Kenya: Safaricom leads with a score of 71. Orange is at a healthy score of 57.
MTN clearly has a social media strategy in place. The company’s Twitter accounts for Uganda and Rwanda are considered influential (having a score over 40). Even more impressively, MTN Sudan yields a Klout score of 24 – very strong considering the small user-base of Sudanese Twitter users. The account only has 48 followers!
Less influential, but active accounts include Telecom Namibia, Airtel Tanzania, Malawi Telecommunications.
Other accounts have the lowest Klout score possible (10). Most of these were created but have sat dormant for at least a few months. They include Orange (Madagascar, Niger), Airtel (Niger, Uganda, Malawi), Comium (Gambia, Ivory Coast), and Sonatel (Senegal).
Orange Niger actively Tweets, but only has 16 followers, suggesting a lack of social media users in Niger.
Comium Gambia (3rd GSM operator in the country) Tweets a few times per month, and has 123 followers, but the influence appears nil.
MTL (Malawi) has fairly low influence (16) despite a decent number of followers given the prevalence of Internet in Malawi (170).

September 27, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Video: SEACOM cable upgrade

Standard Group Kenya’s KTN Business recently aired a video segment on Seacom’s planned upgrade of its undersea cable to cope with growing demand on the eastern seaboard of Africa. Mark Simpson, the new Chief Executive Officer at SEACOM, says that the advent of 4G services will mean that additional demand for broadband will flourish in the near future. He also adds:

a major challenge of SEACOM is reliability of the fiber-optic cable
partners must understand maintenance and security challenges of fibre
Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania government & private consortia should be watched closely – could be promising example for others

September 27, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Health, Health, Non-communicable Diseases, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Arogya World announces diabetes prevention mHealth program in India

Arogya World, a US based NGO, in association with Nokia, will be launching a large-scale diabetes prevention mHealth program in India. The diabetes awareness program aims to reach one million people over the course of the next two years through the use of text messages, which will be translated in multiple languages, catering to the diverse population in India.

The announcement was made at the 2011 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) Annual Meeting in New York City.

For more information, read the official press release here.

September 26, 2011/by actualize

Agriculture, Health, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs): The low hanging fruit for mHealth

As the New York UN meeting on Non Communicable Diseases NCDs draws to a close, one big takeaway that everyone seems to agree on is that NCDs are reaching epidemic proportions worldwide. This may be bad news; however it does present some tremendous opportunities for mHealth in developing countries. NCDs include cardiovascular conditions, some cancers, chronic respiratory conditions and type 2 diabetes. These conditions account for 60% of all deaths worldwide, with 80% occurring in low and middle-income countries[1]. It’s time we put as much funding and emphasis on NCDs in developing countries as we do with infectious diseases. NCDs have twice the number of deaths than infectious diseases (including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria), maternal and perinatal conditions, and nutritional deficiencies (nature link). [2]

There is no refuting the fact that there are significant problems to overcome. The fact is Global health is challenging, but not all challenges are equal, some challenges are more challenging than other. Let me elaborate: If you are attempting to find a cure for HIV or a vaccine for malaria. This would be difficult from a scientific perspective; it would also be expensive and will likely take a long time to achieve. On the other hand, if you attempt to educate a population on diets, lifestyle changes, encourage exercise and reduce smoking; then you will likely prevent an epidemic of extreme proportions that is on the way to developing nations.

There are some low hanging fruits that can be tackled right now with existing mobile technology and know-how that would make a significant impact on the future of Global health. The traditional model of NCD episodic care in clinic and hospital-based settings is inadequate in developing countries due to scarce resources. The low hanging fruit could be plucked by using a mHealth diagnostic and monitoring platform to diagnose health conditions and address the common risk factors, such as smoking, diet and sedentary lifestyles. There are a multitude of studies that show how cellphones can have a positive impact on lifestyle and behavior changes, tying this notion to medical diagnostics and monitoring (continuous or periodic)could have a profound effect. There is a need for diversity in the funding criteria to allow funds to be diverted to develop viable and sustainable innovations in urban areas to address NCDs, there seems to be too much emphasis on rural health in developing nations. Yet there is strong evidence the urban dweller will be far worse off in the future due to the growing obesity rates.[3] Mobile operators in the developing world are in a great position to use their 3G networks to exploit the new health data and services that will surely be unleashed.

[1] World Health Organization Preventing Chronic Diseases: A Vital Investment (WHO, Geneva, 2005).

[2] Nature 450, 494-496 (22 November 2007) | doi:10.1038/450494a; Published online 21 November 2007

[3] Overweight and obesity in urban Africa: A problem of the rich or the poor? http://www.biomedcentral.com/1471-2458/9/465

September 26, 2011/by actualize

Connectivity, Originally posted on the GBI Portal

Internet Connectivity Options and Status in Rural Kenya

I am David Scanell and I would like to describe the Internet access landscape in Kisumu and Nyanza from my personal experience. Now this just Western Kenya, so I can’t comment on the rest of rural Kenya, though I imagine it’s pretty similar.

There are a few terrestrial and wireless ISPs in Kisumu – KDN, Africaonline, Orange Telkom and Swift Global spring to mind. I think a few more may arrive soon once the fibre optic cable installation marathon that’s currently under way here is finished.

Right now, I know a couple of people using Orange ADSL and a few others using KDN’s WIMAX. I only know a single person (through their business) using fibre but I think quite a few more homes and business may switch to fibre soon; maybe even more will move to wireless services from resellers. I’m pretty sure that far more people will start use mobile data over the same time frame though – coverage in Kenya is very good and the spread of mobile ownership continues apace – and there are a few drivers for mobile growth that are no where near exhausted yet.

Since I last lived here in 2007, there has been a noticeable influx of new, cheaper low- to mid-range phones to the market. Whereas before I saw high street shops full of second hand phones, today I see quite a lot more selling good looking branded phones from China such as Tecno – which has a broad range available here – as well as a Huawei and ZTE who also have a few products. There’s also a pretty high volume of KIRF stuff for sale here too. Lots of weird and wonderfully specced Noklas, Samesungs and the like.

Huawei’s IDEOS (android) phone has had a huge media push here of late, though it is still way, way out of the average person’s reach though at it’s current KSH7,999 price point. The Samsung brand seems to be going from strength to strength here and, as ever, Nokia has a big (though noticeably falling) high street presence.

Nearly all these companies offer mid level phones that have EDGE capability at least – some of them also have 3G (the cheapest one in Safaricom’s shop right now is KSH3,999). High level stuff is available here too – PhoneExpress have my Desire Z on sale – but the prices are as high as you’d expect with, for example, a Samsung Galaxy S (i9000) setting you back KSH42,999.

For a mobile 3G modem, prices range from KSH1,999 for the Huawei E173 to KSH12,199 for the Huawei E5 (which is a portable wifi hotspot) and most come with a bundle of free data.

As for mobile data coverage and pricing, there may not be much 3G outside of major towns just now, but EDGE seems to be almost everywhere else, at least in the parts of Nyanza, Western, Central and Coast I’ve traveled to in the last 9 months (including some very out of the way places around Lake Victoria here).

The end user cost is relatively low – standard unbundled MB price on Safaricom is currently KSH8 – and the bundled prices seem to be dropping all the time. The main players Safaricom, Orange and Airtel are cooking up new, lower-priced data bundles. There’s currently a new set of bundles being marketed by Safaricom as “affordable Internet for less”. These daily bundles are priced from 5MB for KSH5 up to 25MB for KSH20.

I’d say the number of Kenyan’s going online via mobile will continue to increase rapidly for a good while yet.

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September 26, 2011/by actualize