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Sunday 2 November 2014
Ebola WHO Credits Mobile App With Helping Nigeria Conquer Deadly Virus
Minister of Communication Technology,
Omobola Johnson credited a social media
campaign and a real-time reporting Android
app used during the outbreak as integral in
containing the deadly virus.
The World Health Organization (WHO) on October
20, 2014, declared Nigeria Ebola-free for 42 days.
In effect, public health agencies have maintained
that an mhealth initiative deserves much of the
credit.
Shortly after WHO's declaration, Nigeria's Minister
of Communication Technology, Omobola Johnson
credited a social media campaign and a real-time
reporting Android app used during the outbreak
as integral in containing the deadly virus.
Speaking at the International Telecommunication
Union's Plenipotentiary Conference on October
21, Johnson said: "The phone app helped in
reducing reporting times of infections by seventy-
five percent."
She added: "Test results were scanned to tablets
and uploaded to emergency databases, and field
teams got text message alerts on their phones
informing them of the results."
The phone app, utilized by health workers in
Nigeria, was provided by the Santa Ana,
California-based non-profit organiszation, eHealth
& Information Systems Nigeria.
Mobile plans among Nigerians have skyrocketed
from 87 million active users four years ago to
more than 131 million now, Johnson pointed out,
in her statement.
Even WHO officials acknowledged the success of
the nation's mHealth initiative, a collaborative
effort among the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, Nigerian government health officials
and others. Health officials were able to reach 100
percent of all known Ebola contacts in Lagos, the
initial site of outbreak, and nearly 100 percent at
Port Harcourt, the nation’s second outbreak site.
"Vehicles and mobile phones, with specially
adapted programmes, were made available to aid
real-time reporting as the investigations moved
forward," WHO officials wrote in an Oct. 20
situation assessment. "The use of cutting-edge
technologies, developed with guidance from the
WHO polio programme, put GPS systems to work
as support for real-time contact tracing and daily
mapping of links between identified chains of
transmission."
To date, 20 cases of the Ebola virus have been
confirmed in Nigeria, with eight confirmed deaths.
Myriad factors also contributed to the decline in
Ebola cases, WHO officials noted. For one, the
Nigerian government acted strong and fast in its
response to the outbreak, setting aside "generous
allocation of government funds." A virology
laboratory established in Lagos, in addition to
social media and radio campaigns also helped
reach those vulnerable.
Some 4,877 people have lost their lives from what
the World Health Organization has called the
deadliest outbreak of Ebola in history. Nearly
10,000 people have confirmed and suspected
cases reported.
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