ICT4D News Roundup – April 7th, 2017
Welcome to our weekly ICT4D roundup, which highlights news in the ICT4D industry, as well as articles that focus on issues that impact the sectors we work across.
Highlighted articles this week:
- Child Deaths Drop From 14.2 Million in 1990 to 7.3 Million in 2015
- When Bullets Fly, These Medics Grab Their Packs and Treat Patients on the Run
- Opportunities for Empowering Young Women to Become Health Workers to Support HIV
DIMAGI’S MISSION TO REVOLUTIONISE THE WORLD’S PUBLIC HEALTH DATA
In this interview with The Guardian, Carter Powers, Chief Operations Officer at Dimagi, discusses how Dimagi got its start, what drives us, the setbacks we faced along the way, and how we’re scaling our business model and technology to reach more people in need.
What drives us is walking into health clinics and seeing enormous paper stacks of important patient records just sitting there. For all of that paper, you know there are patients that could be and deserve to be receiving better care. Until all health systems are digitised everywhere, we are going to continue working on closing that gap.”
WORLD HEALTH WORKER WEEK
In many places, health workers are often the main link between the community and a formal healthcare system. As part of World Health Worker Week, which is taking place this week (April 2-8), we celebrate and recognize health workers all over the world for being on the frontlines of global health.
Health workers serve a critical role at the frontline of disease detection and control. From volunteer community health workers in remote rural villages to doctors and health managers in urban hospitals, the health workforce is the primary link to the health system for individuals, families and communities around the world. Yet, there is a projected shortage of 18 million health workers needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals in low- and lower middle-income countries by 2030.”
We believe that mobile health solutions can help eliminate many of the challenges health workers face in delivering life-saving care to their communities. For more information regarding CommCare for health workers, read our evidence base.
CHILD DEATHS DROP FROM 14.2 MILLION IN 1990 TO 7.3 MILLION IN 2015
The world has made enormous strides in addressing the biggest health risks to children under the age of five, but we still have a long way to go. Experts believe the problem has shifted and argue that the question we must ask ourselves today is: “how can we provide children the care they need to survive and grow into adulthood?”
But it’s not all good news. The children in poor countries who might have died as babies or toddlers a few years ago live long enough to suffer from the effects of birth defects or develop mental health problems or cancer. And increasingly, they live long enough to bear the burden of war and violence in their countries.”
WHEN BULLETS FLY, THESE MEDICS GRAB THEIR PACKS AND TREAT PATIENTS ON THE RUN
Logistical hurdles are often some of the biggest challenges health workers face when trying to deliver life-saving treatment to their communities. Often times, the nearest hospital could be miles away. In countries like South Sudan, this problem is compounded by war. Failing infrastructure, combined with the civil war, has made access to care both difficult — and dangerous. Read how a group of community health workers is providing care, despite these challenges.
This mobile clinic experiment, while extremely challenging and limited in scope, is one of the few ways to provide life-saving health services to people in dangerous, remote areas of a war-ravaged country plagued by famine and disease.”
OPPORTUNITIES FOR EMPOWERING YOUNG WOMEN TO BECOME HEALTH WORKERS TO SUPPORT HIV
Women have a huge role to play in the fight against HIV and AIDs. By empowering them to become health workers, USAID hopes to take a step closer to an AIDS-free generation. Read this article to find out what USAID is doing in the fight against HIV.
Health workers play a critical role in achieving an AIDS-free generation as service providers, but also reduce adolescent girls’ and young women’s risk of HIV by educating and engaging them in the health sector.”
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