Telecom services provider Orange announced its mobile health (mHealth) development initiative with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) – targeting Africa.
The main objective of the alliance between USAID and Orange is to create a framework for easily offering important mobile services in a number of African countries.
For instance, USAID and Orange will develop mobile applications platform in West Africa that can be used by ministries of health, donors and NGOs for consumer education, health worker tools, mobile money, and data collection.
“There is a tremendous amount of good that mobile technology and digital innovations can bring to improve the quality of healthcare to those less fortunate,” said Thierry Zylberberg, director, Orange Healthcare.
Niger and other countries are currently under exploration.
Future services will use integrated mHealth platforms and Orange mobile networks to communicate alerts and share resources around family planning and maternal health. Healthcare workers will be able to use the technology to share medical expertise, collaborate with specialists regardless of location, and improve patient care.
In addition, the public will be able to access health information via the mHealth platforms, said Orange.
