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A team from the University of Illinois at Chicago has developed the first interactive tool using mobile phones to educate the public about pandemic flu. The free, interactive media – called Mobile PanFlu Prep – is due for launch on March 1st, 2006. “It seems so logical, but this is the first time that cell phones have been used to communicate valuable public health information for disaster preparedness,” said Colleen Monahan, director of the Center for the Advancement of Distance Education at the UIC School of Public Health, who was the creative force behind the concept. “This is a first-aid kit for the future”. Mobile PanFlu Prep can be downloaded to a cell phone as one would download an interactive game.