SMS for Life

The SMS for Life initiative is a new 'public-private' project that harnesses everyday technology to eliminate stock-outs and improve access to essential medicines in sub-Saharan Africa. The initiative runs under the umbrella of the global Roll Back Malaria Partnership. SMS for Life harnesses everyday technology to improve access to essential malaria medicines in rural areas of developing countries. It uses a combination of mobile phones, SMS messages, the Internet and electronic mapping technology to track weekly stock levels at public health facilities in order to: • Eliminate stock-outs • Increase access to essential medicines • Reduce the number of deaths from malaria

http://rbm.who.int/psm/smsWhatIsIt.html

International implementation

Fully implemented and active from 01/01/2010

Ministry of Health United Republic of Tanzania, Medicine for Malaria Ventures (MMV), Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Vodacom Tanzania, IBM, Google, Vodafone, Ghana Health Service, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Ministry of Public Health Cameroon, Malaria No More, Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation Kenya, Safaricom Kenya, Management Sciences for Health, PSI/PMI, Norad, Novartis

• Adolescent
• Adult
• Children between 5 and 12
• Children under 5
• Elderly
• New born
• Pregnant women

• Community health worker
• Lab technician
• Nurse and midwife

• Environmental health
• Healthy living
• Immunization
• Patient safety
• Malaria, medication management

• Malaria

• Access to information and services
• Data collection
• Disease surveillance
• Healthcare management
• supply chain management; logistics

• Satellite
• Wired network
• Wireless network

• Mobile phones
• Smartphones

SMS

    None

This project is evaluated? Planned