"SMS FOR LIFE" ROLLED - OUT NATIONWIDE IN THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA

“SMS for Life” rolled-out nationwide in the United Republic of Tanzania

Improving access to essential malaria treatments on World Malaria Day

·       A public-private initiative announces national roll-out of “SMS for Life” across the United Republic of Tanzania to improve access to essential malaria treatments

·       Roll-out follows successful pilot where 99% of health facilities avoided complete stock-outs of artemisinin-based combination therapy thanks to innovative mobile phone technology¹

·       Malaria kills a child every 45 seconds² and limited access to treatment in remote areas remains a major hurdle in the fight against this deadly disease 

Geneva, April 18, 2011

In commemoration of World Malaria Day 2011 (25 April), organizations in an innovative public-private initiative announce the nationwide roll-out of a unique malaria treatment access initiative, "SMS for Life", across the United Republic of Tanzania. The roll-out follows a successful pilot project where mobile and electronic mapping technology was used to track the stock levels of anti-malarial drugs at health facilities to manage supplies of these essential treatments.

Launched in 2009, the “SMS for Life” pilot ran across three districts in Tanzania, ensuring access to essential malaria treatments for 888,000 people. 99% of health facilities involved avoided stock-outs of the artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT), one of the main anti-malarial medicines.¹ “SMS for Life” will now be deployed across 5,000 health facilities in 131 districts in Tanzania, covering a population of over 40 million.³

Under the auspice of the Tanzanian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, this roll-out is led by Novartis and supported by Vodacom, Medicines for Malaria Venture (MMV) and the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, all under the umbrella of the global Roll Back Malaria Partnership.

Malaria kills about 800,000 people each year, the vast majority of whom live in sub-Saharan Africa where the disease is a leading cause of death for children under five, claiming the life of a child every 45 seconds.² Although malaria is preventable and treatable, life-saving medicines do not always reach the patients who need them, particularly those living in remote areas. Stock-outs are a major hurdle in the maintenance of access to essential malaria treatments.

H.E. Dr Hadji Hussein Mponda, Minister for Health & Social Welfare in Tanzania, said “the simple truth is that if there are no effective malaria treatments available in the health facilities then people will likely die, especially young children and pregnant women who are most at risk of the disease. Reducing antimalarial drugs stock-outs saves lives, and so we are delighted that the SMS for Life programme that improves stock position information will now be rolled-out across Tanzania and we welcome this innovation.”

“"SMS for Life" has demonstrated that we can overcome the longstanding problem of stock-outs at the health facility level. This flexible scheme can be implemented quickly and at relatively low cost in any country to track any medicine," said Jim Barrington, "SMS for Life" Program Director and former Chief Information Officer at Novartis. "It's rewarding to see how a unique partnership, which combines the specific skills and experience of its various members to deliver an innovative use of everyday technologies, positively impacts the lives of malaria patients, their families and communities. “SMS for Life” also has great potential to be implemented in all malaria endemic countries and within other disease areas.”

In addition to the roll-out in Tanzania this year, two further pilots will start. Kenya, with funding from Novartis via the global employee survey donation program, will implement a five district pilot to track ACTs and rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs), in addition to collecting weekly case management data. MMV, through partnership with University of Oxford, will provide technical support for the implementation and evaluation of the pilot project. Ghana, with funding from Swiss TPH, will implement a six district pilot to track malaria medicines, an antibiotic and RDTs.

Accurately monitoring the amount of essential medication, such as ACTs and quinine injectables, available in a given location, reduces the risk of shortages and stock-outs and ensures that treatments are available to malaria patients, even in the most remote areas, where and when they are needed. 

Each week, automated SMS messages are sent to staff at participating healthcare facilities, prompting them to check the stock of anti-malarial medicines, and reply with an SMS detailing current stock levels. These messages are collected in a central web-based system that provides the District Medical Officers and other users with real-time stock level information, accessible via the Internet or their mobile phone. Using this information, District Medical Officers are able to re-distribute essential medicines to where they are most needed and coordinate emergency deliveries to health facilities if necessary. 

The Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GBC) Business Action on Health Awards Review Committee has recently selected the “SMS for Life” program as a Finalist for the Technology for Health award.

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CONTACTS

Roll Back Malaria

Clare Courtney

Office: +41 (0)22 7914581

Mobile: +41 (0)79 724 7815

Email: courtneyc@who.int

Ruder Finn

Sarah McKinnon Clark

Office: +44 207 462 8918

Mobile: +44 7973 299 649

Email: smclark@ruderfinn.co.u