CAMDEN, Maine & JOHANNESBURG, South Africa--()--Pop!Tech (www.poptech.org), the renowned annual ideas summit and social innovation network, in partnership with a coalition of world-class organizations, domain experts and cultural figures, today unveiled Project Masiluleke: a path-breaking effort that harnesses the power of mobile technology to help reverse the HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis (TB) crises in South Africa and beyond. The project embodies a vanguard new approach to these intractable public health challenges, tapping the cell phone as a high-impact, low-cost means to deliver healthcare information and catalyze increased testing.
“National Geographic is delighted to have had the opportunity to help launch this critical project that will fight the scourges of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis”
In the coming year, the initiative will reach millions in South Africa – a country of 48 million people, where 90% use mobile phones and AIDS kills 1,000 people every day – connecting citizens nationwide to critical health-related information, as well as lifesaving HIV and TB resources. “Project M” has also been designed to serve as a scalable, high-impact model that can be replicated worldwide.
Project Masiluleke, which means “to give wise counsel” and “lend a helping hand” in Zulu, has brought together a world-class, interdisciplinary team of partners in design, mobile technology and healthcare. Key contributors include renowned global design and innovation firm frog design; leading South African pro-social mobile messaging group the Praekelt Foundation; groundbreaking South African HIV and TB outreach organization iTeach; Africa’s leading cellular telecommunications company, MTN; leading global communications enabler Nokia Siemens Networks; one of the world's largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations, National Geographic; and a host of other remarkable partners. Together, this collaborative team has invested several million dollars of in-kind value to establish the cell phone as a bridge to treatment – bringing those with HIV and TB into the healthcare system much earlier and greatly increasing their chances of living a long, healthy life.
The key elements and stages of Project M include:
“Please Call Me” x 1 Million x 365 – The first stage of the project is built around the use of specialized text messages, delivering approximately 1,000,000 HIV/AIDS and TB messages each day, for one year, to the general public. These messages are broadcast in the unused space of “Please Call Me” (PCM) text messages – a special, free form of SMS text widely used in South Africa and across the continent. Utilizing technology from the Praekelt Foundation, message content from iTeach, design insights from frog design, and network capacity donated by MTN, the messages connect mobile users to existing HIV and TB call centers. Trained operators provide callers with accurate healthcare information, counseling and referrals to local testing clinics.
After three weeks of beta testing, Project M has already helped triple average daily call volume to the National AIDS Helpline in Johannesburg. Looking forward, assuming only 2% of PCM recipients respond in the coming year – and only half of those initiate an HIV/AIDS test – Project M has the potential to mobilize several hundred thousand South Africans to get tested in its first year alone.
TxtAlert: Keeping Patients Connected to Care – Only 10% of South Africans with AIDS are currently receiving anti-retroviral (ARV) therapy, and of those who begin treatment, more than 40% do not remain on the life-saving drugs past two years. Project M will address this critical problem through the Praekelt Foundation’s TxtAlert technology, which uses text messaging to remind patients of scheduled clinic visits – helping to ensure they adhere to ARV regimens.
HIV+ Virtual Call Centers – For Project M’s second phase, plans are underway to implement “virtual call centers,” where existing helplines will be augmented by teams of highly-trained, highly-adherent HIV+ patients. These individuals will field questions remotely, via their mobile devices, from the general public. Counselors will be closely vetted, trained and represent “gold star” patients – extremely knowledgeable about their illness, diligent about their treatment regimen and intimately familiar with the weight of an HIV+ diagnosis. These virtual call centers hold the potential to create hundreds of new jobs and considerably increase the capacity of South Africa’s health response system.
At-Home HIV Testing with Mobile Support – Ultimately, with more HIV+ citizens than any country in the world, and infection rates topping 40% in some provinces, South Africa demands a radical solution to truly reverse its HIV/AIDS and TB crises. For the third phase of Project M, the project partners are actively exploring a breakthrough distributed diagnostics model: low cost, at-home HIV testing with mobile counseling support. Analogous to a pregnancy test, these distributed diagnostics would provide a free, private and reliable way for anyone to take the critical first step of knowing his or her status, with high-quality information provided via mobile device.
Stigma is widely considered the number one impediment to increased HIV/AIDS and TB testing. Many in South Africa are unwilling to take the risk of being seen standing in line at a clinic, waiting to be tested. The country’s healthcare system is also tremendously overburdened and incapable of providing care to the millions who need it. A mobile-supported distributed testing service would address these impediments and help close the testing and care gaps – connecting home testers to knowledgeable counselors specially trained for this situation.
Home testing does raise some serious questions, which will require thoughtful analysis and careful planning, however an effective HIV home-testing service could help trigger system-wide positive change. Early response from South African government and healthcare officials, as well as likely users in both urban and rural communities, has been overwhelmingly enthusiastic. The Project M team hopes to initiate a global conversation about this and other potentially transformative solutions applicable in South Africa and worldwide. frog design and iTeach are actively collaborating on visionary design strategies which can guide a possible implementation of this solution.
An Unparalleled Partner Set – Project M is being incubated by the Pop!Tech Accelerator, which brings together world-class companies, foundations, NGOs, funders, artists and thought leaders to collaborate on outcomes none could achieve independently. Project M partners and their respective contributions include:
- frog design - frog design is a leading global innovation firm with extensive experience developing breakthrough mobile applications and services on a global scale. Committed to social development, frog is contributing service design expertise to ensure that all aspects of the user experience – particularly the HIV home-test service – are carefully crafted for maximum usability, value and relevance to the end user.
- The Praekelt Foundation - Praekelt is a South African-based non-profit committed to building innovative mobile technology solutions that improve the health and well-being of people living in poverty. The Foundation is an incubator for new mobile-based solutions and developed the technology to insert the healthcare messages into existing PCMs, as well as the TxtAlert concept – two critical components of Project M.
- iTeach - Led by Krista Dong, MD and Zinhle Thabethe, iTeach is a leading HIV/TB education, outreach and service organization, headquartered at Edendale Hospital in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. iTeach serves as the primary clinical site for Project M and the iTeach team has developed the content of all SMS messages, ensuring clinical, cultural and linguistic correctness.
- Nokia Siemens Networks - A leading global enabler of communications services, Nokia Siemens Networks provides a complete, well-balanced product portfolio of mobile and fixed network infrastructure solutions. With operations in over 150 countries, the company will play a key role in helping to propagate the Project Masiluleke model and learnings worldwide.
- MTN – One of the largest and fastest-growing telecommunications companies in the developing world, MTN is generously donating up to 1 million “Please Call Me” messages per day for one year. MTN South Africa is part of the MTN Group, a multinational telecommunications group operating in 21 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The MTN Group claims more than 74 million subscribers across its operations in Afghanistan, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Republic, Iran, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville), Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia.
- Ghetto Ruff - A leader in the South African music scene and among the most relevant cultural brands in the country, Ghetto Ruff and its artists have a long history of channeling their celebrity and voices to advance social change. Three of the label’s top young acts – Jozi (Bongani Fassie, Leslie, Ishmael), Gumshev (Bruno and Fistos) and solo artist Malik – have committed to help make Project M a success.
- National Geographic - One of the world's largest non-profit scientific and educational organizations, the National Geographic Society is a generous supporter of the Pop!Tech Accelerator and Project M. In addition to providing grant support, the National Geographic Society will be documenting the work of the project.
- Children of South African Legacies – Understanding all too well the toll HIV/AIDS is having on South Africa and its prospects for the future, prominent members of the iconic Mandela and Sisulu families have signed on to support Project M. Bhambathe Mandela, grandson of Nelson Mandela, and Moyikwa Sisulu, grandson of renowned African National Congress leader Walter Sisulu, are among those who have endorsed Project M and pledged to help drive adoption of the program.
- Aricent - Aricent is a full-service, full-spectrum communications software company committing technical assistance to Project M. Aricent offers software services and products that enable the world's leading communications equipment manufacturers, device manufacturers and service providers to improve time-to-revenue and maximize efficiency.
- CellLife - This pioneering South African initiative, and Praekelt Foundation partner, provides open-source solutions for the management of HIV/AIDS using mobile technologies.
- LifeLine Southern African – LifeLine collaborates with the South African National Department of Health to administer the country’s National AIDS Helpline – a critical resource for those seeking more information about HIV/AIDS and TB testing and care. The National AIDS Helpline is the pilot site for Project M, receiving inbound calls generated by PCMs.
- World-Class Advisors - Guiding the development of Project M are several of the most respected and decorated HIV/AIDS, TB and mobile health experts in the US and South Africa. These include Dr. David Bangsberg of Harvard Medical School, Dr. Rocio Hurtado of Mass General, Dr. Patricia Mechaels of Columbia University and Dr. Francois Venter of the South African HIV Clinician’s Society.
Quote Sheet:
“Project M exemplifies the promise and potential of the Pop!Tech Accelerator: bring together visionary people, foster world-class collaborations, and help generate world-changing results,” said Andrew Zolli, curator and executive director, Pop!Tech.
“With Project M, we are seeing the powerful impact that mobile technologies can have in raising awareness of serious health issues and encouraging positive behavior change on a massive scale,” said Robert Fabricant, executive creative director for frog design. “However, this potential will not be realized without the direct application of design to ensure that these services are simple and human."
“After 26 years of an AIDS epidemic in South Africa, I feel we’ve arrived at a point – and a solution – where we can finally end this crisis,” said Zinny Thabethe, deputy director of iTeach and a catalytic force in Project M’s development.
"Project M demonstrates the power that mobile technology has to address some of the big issues facing the world today," said Anthony Darcy, Project Coordinator, Nokia Siemens Networks. "Our own Village Connection initiative is already bringing the benefits of mobile communications and the Internet to rural parts of South Africa, and Project M complements this work by exploiting mobile connectivity to raise awareness and improve the treatment of HIV/AIDS and TB across the region."
"National Geographic is delighted to have had the opportunity to help launch this critical project that will fight the scourges of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis," said Sarah Laskin, vice president and chief operating officer, Mission Programs, at National Geographic.
"Since Project M was initiated, we have observed a dramatic increase in the call rate to the AIDS Helpline – from approximately 1,300 calls per day to a new average of 3,600,” said Milo Zama, Projects Development Manager, LifeLine Southern Africa. “Our sincere appreciation goes to the Praekelt team for their tireless efforts to make this endeavor so successful. We are looking forward to strengthening this partnership further, so as to broaden the reach and impact of the AIDS Helpline's vital services.”
About Pop!Tech
Pop!Tech is a renowned ideas summit and social innovation network dedicated to accelerating the positive impact of world-changing people and ideas. The organization is known for its visionary Pop!Tech conferences, engaging media productions, and the innovative social change programs that it fosters worldwide. Please visit www.poptech.org for more.
About frog design, inc.
frog design is a global innovation firm that helps the world’s leading companies create and bring to market meaningful products, services, and experiences. frog’s cross-disciplinary process reveals valuable consumer and market insights and inspires lasting, humanizing solutions.
With a team of more than 400 designers, technologists, strategists, and analysts, frog delivers fully convergent experiences that span multiple technologies, platforms, and media. The company works across a broad spectrum of industries, including consumer electronics, telecommunications, healthcare, media, education, finance, retail, and fashion. Clients include Alltel, Disney, GE, HP, Logitech, Microsoft, MTV, Seagate, Yahoo! and others. Founded in 1969, frog is headquartered in San Francisco, California, with studios in Austin, TX; New York, NY; San Jose, CA; Seattle, WA; Milan, Italy; Amsterdam, Netherlands; Stuttgart, Germany; and Shanghai, China.
About Praekelt
Praekelt Foundation is a South African NGO founded in 2007 by Gustav Praekelt and Robin Miller. The Foundation serves as an incubator for mobile technology that can fuel social change and impact the lives of people living in poverty. The Foundation’s current three mobile messaging platforms (SocialTxt, TxtAlert and Mobilisr) are all open source tools that enable other NGOs to cost-effectively reach audiences and affect social change. SocialTxt and TxtAlert are two of the main messaging tools employed in Project Masiluleke. These tools will not only drive people to access HIV testing, counseling and support services, but will also enhance ARV adherence once a patient has been placed on treatment. Please visit www.praekeltfoundation.org for more.
About iTeach
The Integration of TB in Education and Care for HIV/AIDS (iTEACH) Program is a non-profit organization based in KwaZulu-Natal South Africa, committed to improving delivery of HIV and TB care and treatment in the public health sector. This is accomplished by working in close partnership with the Department of Health and key stakeholders in the community, and focusing on the most urgent local needs and challenges. From training of health care workers to evaluation of hospital lab systems or testing an innovative tool to address food insecurity, all initiatives are assessed for feasibility and efficacy, to enable identification of models that can be replicated and scaled-up in other similar high burden and challenged settings. Founded in 2005, iTEACH is affiliated with Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, with primary funding through private philanthropy.
About Nokia Siemens Networks
Nokia Siemens Networks is a leading global enabler of communications services. The company provides a complete, well-balanced product portfolio of mobile and fixed network infrastructure solutions and addresses the growing demand for services with 20,000 service professionals worldwide. Nokia Siemens Networks is one of the largest telecommunications infrastructure companies with operations in 150 countries. The company is headquartered in Espoo, Finland.
About National Geographic
The National Geographic Society is one of the world's largest nonprofit scientific and educational organizations. Founded in 1888 to "increase and diffuse geographic knowledge," the Society works to inspire people to care about the planet. It reaches more than 325 million people worldwide each month through its official journal, National Geographic, and other magazines; National Geographic Channel; television documentaries; music; radio; films; books; DVDs; maps; exhibitions; school publishing programs; interactive media; and merchandise. National Geographic has funded more than 9,000 scientific research, conservation and exploration projects and supports an education program combating geographic illiteracy. For more information, visit nationalgeographic.com.
About The MTN Group
Launched in 1994, the MTN Group is a multinational telecommunications group, operating in 21 countries in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. The MTN Group is listed on the JSE Securities Exchange in South Africa under the share code: "MTN". As at 30 June 2008, MTN recorded 74,1 million subscribers across its operations in Afghanistan, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Cote d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Ghana, Guinea Bissau, Guinea Republic, Iran, Liberia, Nigeria, Republic of Congo (Congo Brazzaville), Rwanda, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Syria, Uganda, Yemen and Zambia. The MTN Group is a global sponsor of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa™ and has exclusive mobile content rights for Africa and the Middle East. Visit www.mtn.com.
About LifeLine Southern Africa
Since 1992, LifeLine has collaborated with the National Department of Health in the management of the AIDS Helpline (0800-012-322). The Line has developed and grown as a leading telephone counselling service within the SADC Region, and is a sterling example of a best practice model in terms of a successful working partnership between the government and the community sector, in tackling the enormous HIV and AIDS challenges in South Africa. The Line is currently receiving an average of 3600 calls per day.
About Ghetto Ruff
Since Prophets of da City in 1988, Ghetto Ruff has always been at the forefront of black urban music in South Africa. The social and political messages have been carried through artists and their music. From the “Rapping for Democracy” tour in 1993 that brought in a new era, to now, 2008, addressing the AIDS epidemic, music and artists have led the way. While having a social conscience, Ghetto Ruff have managed to produce the cutting edge commercial music for more than two decades, including Prophets of da City, Zola, Malik, Brown Dash, Brickz, DJ Clep, Mzekezeke, Jozi, Skeem, Ishmael, O Da Meesta, Unathi, RJ Benjamin, Gumshev, DJ Killer, Skomplaz, Pitch Black Afro, Ashaan, Ghetto Luv, Brasse Vannie Kaap, Maggs, Da Les, Ready D and more.
About Aricent
Aricent is a global innovation, technology and outsourcing company focused exclusively on communications. Aricent combines the leading innovation capabilities of frog design with unparalleled domain expertise in communications gained as a strategic supplier to the world's foremost infrastructure, application and service providers. The company is owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Sequoia Capital, The Family Office and Flextronics International Ltd. and has more than 550 clients worldwide. For more information, visit www.aricent.com.
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