27 September 2016
During the ICT Proposers Day Paul Cunningham (mHealth4Afrika/IIMC) presented African Research and Innovation Priorities and Mapping of African Institutions to ICT-39 themes in the International Cooperation session on 26 September 2016 in Bratislava. In this context mHealth4Afrika was showcased as a case study as one of the four projects funded under the ICT-39-2015 call based on addressing end-user requirements in Africa.
Paul presented the main objectives of mHealth4Afrika to co-design an open source mHealth platform to support quality community-based maternal and Newborn healthcare delivery at clinic level, based on end-user requirements in Southern Africa (Malawi, South Africa), East Africa (Kenya) & Horn of Africa (Ethiopia).
Paul outlined how a co-design process had been undertaken during the preparation of the project and in its ongoing implementation. Paul highlighted the importance to ensure alignment with national and regional policies and priorities and to have strong existing relationships with relevant key stakeholders. As part of its design, mHealth4Afrika is leveraging co-design and user centered design to indentify human resource challenges, training requirements, technical and infrastructure challenges to be addresssed within the healthcare clinics. The techologies and approaches are informed based on an extensive base line study and needs assessment with healthcare clinics and Ministries of Health in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi and South Africa.
This session was well attended with over 80 participants from a range of countries. The mHealth4Afrika presentation raised awareness of the importance of stakeholder engagement and co-design when addressing end user requirements in an African context.