Mapping medicine availability via SMS
Medicine stock-outs are a potentially lethal problem in a number of African countries, yet governments insist they don’t occur. What could be more powerful than a map which contradicts this claim?
Last week activists in Kenya, Uganda, Malawi and Zambia started surveying clinics in their respective countries, checking stock levels of essential medicines, including:
- First-line anti-malarials
- Zinc 20mg tablet
- Penicilin
- First-line ARVs
- Metronidazole 200mg tablet
- Ciproflaxicin
- Amoxicillin suspension
- Ceftriaxone
- Cotrimoxazole suspension
- ORS – Diarrhea
Each of these are seen as essential in varying degrees to fighting disease and illness, and are widely used when available.
Armed with the data, activists report their results via structured, coded SMS – “x,y,z” – where the first number represents their country code (Kenya, Malawi, Uganda or Zambia), the second their district or city, and the third the medicine which they found to be out of stock. These messages are received by a phone connected to a computer running FrontlineSMS, which then runs an automatic script which validates the data before it is sent over the internet to a Ushahidi-powered website.
From there the results are automatically displayed on a map, below (click to visit the live site).
As of today, there have been over 250 stock-outs of these essential medicines.
Since the data is automatically populated, the map represents an almost real-time picture of stock-outs in the four target countries. After a successful launch and a week piloting the service, the “stock-out hub number” will now be distributed to medicine users throughout each country so that anyone with a mobile phone can send in a stock-out report. Unlike reports from official, known data collectors, these messages will firstly be checked by staff at Health Action International (HAI Africa) before being posted up on the map.
The technological portion of the campaign was implemented by Michael Ballard and Claudio Midolo, both Open Society Fellows from the Department of Design + Technology at Parsons the New School for Design in New York. Ndesanjo Macha also helped in getting FrontlineSMS up and running in Uganda and Malawi.
For further background information and up-to-date news, visit the “Stop Stock-Outs” website.
38 comments
->@kiwanja: Mapping medicine availability via SMS http://tinyurl.com/ng8gjs
[...] This post was Twitted by frontlinesms [...]
[...] Medicine stock-outs are a potentially lethal problem in a number of African countries, yet governments insist they don’t occur. What could be more powerful than a map which contradicts this claim Excerpt from: Mapping medicine availability via SMS [...]
[...] is the original: Mapping medicine availability via SMS Share and [...]
[...] The story has been picked up by some blogs and Kenyan news media. A shout-out to Parsons DT! [...]
Mapping medicine avails via SMS RT@kiwanjanet @smsmedic HUGE for internat’l NGOs http://tinyurl.com/ng8gjs
Great use of sms service.
Sms has a lot of great uses like Google sms and text2land.com service that allow you to send sms to landline phones.
Another great use of the Ushahidi/Frontline SMS combo. Really inspiring to see what people are able to do when the tools are made available. Congrats all!
Great use of FrontlineSMS and Ushahidi. Still thinking about how this combo can be used for education in South Africa.
RT @stevesong RT @kiwanja: Project in East Africa monitors essential medicine supply using @ushahidi & @frontlinesms http://is.gd/1kwSG
RT @stevesong RT @kiwanja: Project in East Africa monitors essential medicine supply using @ushahidi & @frontlinesms http://is.gd/1kwSG
@Steve – Thanks, buddy! Always good to hear from you. Looking forward to seeing the first Vosloo-powered use of these tools.
RT @ Kiwanja Blog on use of SMS to crowd-source out-of-stock drug info. in East Africa. http://is.gd/1kwSG @frontlinesms @ushahidi
RT @ Kiwanja Blog on use of SMS to crowd-source out-of-stock drug info. in East Africa. http://is.gd/1kwSG @frontlinesms @ushahidi
RT @IntraHealthOPEN: RT @Kiwanja Blog ,SMS to crowd-source out-of-stock drug info. in E. Africa http://is.gd/1kwSG @frontlinesms @ushahidi
RT @IntraHealthOPEN: RT @Kiwanja Blog ,SMS to crowd-source out-of-stock drug info. in E. Africa http://is.gd/1kwSG @frontlinesms @ushahidi
@kiwanja: Mapping medicine availability via SMS http://tinyurl.com/ng8gjs
@kiwanja: Mapping medicine availability via SMS http://tinyurl.com/ng8gjs
@kiwanja: Mapping medicine availability via SMS http://tinyurl.com/ng8gjs
[...] Build it Kenny, and they Will Come [...]
[...] malaria, pneumonia, diarrhoea, HIV, TB, diabetes and hypertension. Ken Banks of Frontline SMS has a nice post up describing how the campaign [...]
Using crowdsourcing to map medecine availability using SMS. See http://tr.im/qQWH and http://tr.im/qQWK thx @kiwanja
Using crowdsourcing to map medecine availability using SMS. See http://tr.im/qQWH and http://tr.im/qQWK thx @kiwanja
[...] This post was Twitted by Emilyblynn [...]
Mapping medicine availability via SMS – http://ow.ly/gEOp – brilliant system that should be used worldwide, cheers @kiwanja
Mapping medicine availability via SMS – http://ow.ly/gEOp – brilliant system that should be used worldwide, cheers @kiwanja
FrontlineSMS & Ushahidi are used to manage medicine stock in rural Africa. A nice description of an interesting project. http://bit.ly/H2odQ
FrontlineSMS & Ushahidi are used to manage medicine stock in rural Africa. A nice description of an interesting project. http://bit.ly/H2odQ
Mapping medicine availability via SMS http://ow.ly/gEOp brilliant system that should be used worldwide, cheers @kiwanja (via @WorldNomads)
Mapping medicine availability via SMS http://ow.ly/gEOp brilliant system that should be used worldwide, cheers @kiwanja (via @WorldNomads)
Mapping medicine availability via SMS http://ow.ly/gEOp brilliant system that should be used worldwide, cheers @kiwanja (via @WorldNomads)
Mapping medicine availability via SMS http://ow.ly/h3in more good stuff from @kiwanja
Mapping medicine availability via SMS http://ow.ly/h3in more good stuff from @kiwanja
Mapping medicine availability via SMS | Build it Kenny, and they will come… http://bit.ly/5fAfR
@hrana Have you seen mobile app tracking drug rationing in Kenya? http://bit.ly/08u1Y6M/
@Liz_Smith don't know if u've seen this already, but its pretty cool – http://tinyurl.com/yzttes3 in a bad kinda way..
@jssozi my friend @wskent recommends Ushahidi: http://t.co/qGD6Gnw1 Kiwanja: http://t.co/BaY9EfpZ RTI International: http://t.co/2z2ZtDNe
@jssozi my friend @wskent recommends Ushahidi: http://t.co/qGD6Gnw1 Kiwanja: http://t.co/BaY9EfpZ RTI International: http://t.co/2z2ZtDNe
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