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Rapid Android for Malaria Prevention

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This programme uses a new software application for Google's Android mobile phone operating system that turns the mobile device into a high-speed data collector and analyser to help relief workers get information and distribute aid more quickly. The application, called Rapid Android, was developed by the United Nations Children's Fund's (UNICEF) Innovations Unit with tech-for-change developer Dimagi. In January 2008, the programme was launched in Nigeria to help the World Bank, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and other partners monitor the deployment of bed nets for malaria prevention.
Communication Strategies

Android is an open source operating system for the mobile phone. Rapid Android is a version of RapidSMS, an open source version of instant messaging software, designed for the Android operating system specifically. This means that there is no longer any need for a server or complicated computer hardware, or even a specialised technician, to get a RapidSMS system up and running. According to the organisers, this gets rid of a lot of overhead for set-up, and it also allows people who wouldn't otherwise be data collectors to gather information about their communities. Villagers can be trained to use inexpensive cell phones to text in their community's health, food supply, and bed net usage statistics to authorities. Aid workers can collect and process data wherever there is a wireless connection. As stated by the organisers, with faster knowledge of what's working and what isn't, interventions can be made faster and more effective.

The Rapid Android system is helping to support the deployment 63 million bed nets by the end of 2010, starting in two regions north of Abuja. The project sent six developers to Nigeria to work with local programmers, developers, and universities to develop reporting capacity to start helping authorities make sure these nets are used effectively. Later in the process, organisers may send out questions regarding net usage and how distribution is happening. They are also working with mobile providers to get SMS into the hands of the local population so that people can SMS information, and have access to information that can help in malaria prevention.

Development Issues

Malaria, Information and Communication Technologies

Key Points

The UNICEF Innovations unit team previously developed RapidSMS following a famine in Ethiopia, to speed food supply data from remote areas. RapidSMS enables field workers to send text messages to a central server where they are instantly analysed. Immediate feedback is then given to field workers. The technology was also used in Malawi to improve reporting on and response to malnutrition in children.

Partners

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), World Bank, USAID

Sources

Cause Global: Social Media for Social Change blog on October 1 2010.