Search
  1. Home
  2. Southern Africa
  3. South Africa
  • News

Cell phones to ease AID treatment monitoring

    JOHANNESBURG

    New mobile phone technology is helping South Africa's health workers monitor AIDS drug adherence and spot complications in HIV-positive patients.

    The 'Cell-Life' project, backed by local mobile phone giant Vodacom, has just completed a successful run across townships in the Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces, where 80 counsellors used mobile phones to monitor 800 patients.

    The UK's Science and Development Network quoted Cell-Life head, Ulrike Rivett, as saying: "Donors have understandably focused on getting medicines to patients, and too little attention has been paid to the vital task of improving South Africa's lacklustre health infrastructure and monitoring systems."

    Talks are currently underway with health authorities to expand the project's reach into other provinces.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

    Share this article

    Our ability to deliver compelling, field-based reporting on humanitarian crises rests on a few key principles: deep expertise, an unwavering commitment to amplifying affected voices, and a belief in the power of independent journalism to drive real change.

    We need your help to sustain and expand our work. Your donation will support our unique approach to journalism, helping fund everything from field-based investigations to the innovative storytelling that ensures marginalised voices are heard.

    Please consider joining our membership programme. Together, we can continue to make a meaningful impact on how the world responds to crises.

    Become a member of The New Humanitarian

    Support our journalism and become more involved in our community. Help us deliver informative, accessible, independent journalism that you can trust and provides accountability to the millions of people affected by crises worldwide.

    Join