Category: m-HEALTH

 

OPERATION ASHA

 

Original title: Operation ASHA
Producer: Sandeep Ahuja
Platform: Mobile Phone, SMS
language: Hindi, English
Country: India
Contact: sandeep.ahuja@opasha.org , nupur.bhatnagar@opasha.org
Website: http://opasha.org/

 

DESCRIPTION:

ASHA is a project ensuring reliable delivery of Tuberculosis DOTS Medications using Low-Cost Biometrics and Mobile Phones developed by Operation ASHA. ASHA’s solution and technical innovation developed in collaboration with Microsoft Research India and Innovators in Health, provides a transparent and tamperproof record of the doses of tuberculosis medication that are administered to a patient under supervision of a health worker. Using a biometric terminal the patient swipes his finger on a fingerprint reader every time he visits the treatment centre. An automatic text alert is sent daily via a phone to the central location from where they are imported into an Electronic Medical Record System for analysis, visualization and reporting. A text message reporting non-adherence cases is also sent daily to concerned counsellor and the program manager, who respond with improved counselling and supervision. The biometrics terminal consists of off-the-shelf low-cost components: a net-book computer, a fingerprint reader, and a mobile phone. It is used daily at 17 tuberculosis clinics in south Delhi, touching over 900 patients and logging over 8,000 visits to date. These clinics are managed by an NGO called Operation ASHA that uses the mobile reporting system to ensure that medications are delivered in a reliable and timely manner.