Monday, October 19, 2015

Samsung, VSO Jitolee provide e-platform to fight child mortality

 

Robert Ngeru and Virginia Macharia

Samsung East Africa has announced a partnership with VSO Jitolee to launch an ICT solution that will improve maternal and child health care. The solution, which will be deployed at the Riruta Health Clinic in Dagoretti Sub-County, will assist health workers switch from manual data entry to real-time data entry, registration, tracking and maintaining follow-ups with mothers at various stages of their pregnancy on an e-Platform.

 

It will also enable health workers monitor patient health history and inform registered parents and guardians of their children’s immunization records from birth.

In addition, the solution will provide information on how to prevent HIV and AIDS transmission from mother to child and the value of nutritional supplements. Health workers based in peri-urban locations of Dagoretti will be able to enter real time data in the system which will be sent to a central database.

“This initiative is an important step towards embracing the real needs of healthcare providers and patients. We aim to leverage our technology to help individuals lead healthier lives while delivering healthcare providers the tools they need to improve clinical outcomes,” said Robert Ngeru, Vice President and COO, Samsung Electronics East Africa.

This will help the County, the ministry and various health institutions generate accurate reports to inform rapid decision making and support resource allocation across the medical sector.

Samsung Electronics East Africa is also donating TVs and DVD players which will be used to disseminate information on maternal and child health care to women of child-bearing age in the sub-county.

“We are all aware that mothers are the foundation of our society and givers of life which is why we need to take care of them. This project is designed to deliver on that promise and ensure that our health sector fulfills its mandate to boost the health of Kenyans in general,” added Mr. Ngeru.

This partnership with VSO forms part of Samsung’s Employee Volunteer Program (EVP), which encourages employees to use part of their time to uplift and empower the underprivileged in the community.

“Our vision as VSO is to empower local communities to achieve sustainable change and build resilience against future challenges. We promote volunteering as a powerful and practical way to tackle poverty and disadvantage. In partnership with other stakeholders, we are contributing to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 3 of Health and Well-being, to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births by 2030,” said George Awalla, VSO Jitolee’s Head of programmes.

 

 



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