Preventing HIV/AIDS one SMS at a time

November 1, 2011 in HIV & AIDS

One million people in Uganda live with HIV/AIDS, where long distances and expensive travel costs significantly limit access to treatment. By employing an innovative mobile-technology strategy, Dr. Femida Gwadry-Sridhar, Director of I-THINK Research at Lawson Health Research Institute, hopes to provide a much-needed solution.

Over 10 million Ugandans now own a mobile device. By leveraging this common technology, Dr. Gwadry-Sridhar believes she can create widespread information sharing at minimal costs. She and her team plan to develop educational animated messages to be delivered directly to individual cell phones.

Dr. Gwadry-Sridhar hopes this strategy will generate a grassroots impact, leveraging existing social networks and influence to drive community learning. Through her colleagues at the Salama Shield Foundation and Makerere University, she will reach out directly to and community leaders to extend and improve care delivery.

"We can deliver vital via these types of mobile devices," Gwadry-Sridhar says. "Our project will deliver animated messages to people of all ages to help them understand and manage AIDS/HIV and to prevent further spread."

This proposal is currently under consideration for Canada's Canadian Rising Stars in Global Health Program. The program aims to tap into the creativity, knowledge and skills of emerging Canadian innovators to solve some of the most persistent health challenges in the developing world.

More information: To learn more or support this initiative, view the video proposal at http://bit.ly/laws … ndchallenges

Provided by Lawson Health Research Institute

send feedback to editors
not rated yet  

Filter


Move the slider to adjust rank threshold, so that you can hide some of the comments.


Display comments: newest first

pozloves
Nov 01, 2011

Rank: not rated yet
Check out HIVlover, com. There should be education also on people who know that they had the HIV/AIDS infecting it on innocent boys and girls.There is a law that people do not know.This law can reduced the spread of the decease.
Rank not rated yet
Tags

health care providers, grand challenges, long distances, healthcare information, social networking, hiv
Related Stories
more news
Relevant PhysicsForums posts

More news stories

Mortality rates decrease, chronic disease rates increase among HIV+ ICU patients

The expanded use of antiretrovirals, potent drugs used to treat retroviral infections such as human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), has been linked to significant decreases in hospital mortality rates among severely ill HIV-positive(HIV+) ...

HIV & AIDS created May 23, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Newly discovered breast milk antibodies help neutralize HIV

Antibodies that help to stop the HIV virus have been found in breast milk. Researchers at Duke University Medical Center isolated the antibodies from immune cells called B cells in the breast milk of infected mothers in Malawi, ...

HIV & AIDS created May 22, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Reactions to HIV drug have autoimmune cause, reports AIDS journal

Potentially severe hypersensitivity reactions to the anti-HIV drug abacavir occur through an autoimmune mechanism, resulting from the creation of drug-induced immunogens that are attacked by the body's immune system, according ...

HIV & AIDS created May 22, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0

Is the U.S. ready for home HIV tests?

At the pharmacy, you can buy anything from tea kettles to Tylenol. But what if you could buy a rapid HIV test over the counter and test yourself in the privacy of your own home?

HIV & AIDS created May 21, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Reduced glycerin formulation of tenofovir vaginal gel safe for rectal use

A change in the formulation of tenofovir gel, an anti-HIV gel developed for vaginal use, may make it safer to use in the rectum, suggests a study published online this week in the Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. In lab ...

HIV & AIDS created May 17, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0


Travel to high altitudes tied to Crohn's, colitis flare-ups

(HealthDay) -- People with inflammatory bowel disease, which includes Crohn's disease and colitis, may be at increased risk for flare-ups when they fly or travel to high altitudes for skiing or mountain climbing, ...

Family history of Alzheimer's affects functional connectivity

(HealthDay) -- Cognitively normal individuals with a family history of late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) may display lower resting state functional connectivity in the default mode network (DMN) of the brain, ...

Transvaginal mesh op restores pelvic organ prolapse at price

(HealthDay) -- Transvaginal mesh (TVM) procedures are effective for anatomical restoration of pelvic organ prolapse (POP), but patients report a worsening of sexual function following surgery, according to ...

Tongue analysis software uses ancient Chinese medicine to warn of disease

For 5,000 years, the Chinese have used a system of medicine based on the flow and balance of positive and negative energies in the body. In this system, the appearance of the tongue is one of the measures used to classify ...

Skp2 activates cancer-promoting, glucose-processing Akt

HER2 and its epidermal growth factor receptor cousins mobilize a specialized protein to activate a major player in cancer development and sugar metabolism, scientists report in the May 25 issue of Cell.

Early physical therapist treatment associated with reduced risk of healthcare utilization and reduced overall healthcare

A new study published in Spine shows that early treatment by a physical therapist for low back pain (LBP), as compared to delayed treatment, was associated with reduced risk of subsequent healthcare utilization and lower ...