Kathmandu Post – 9 Nov 2009
Cell phones help positive living
By Kamal Raj Sigdel, from Nepal, who attended a TRF ‘Reporting HIV/Aids’ course in Nairobi. This article was published on the front page of the Kathmandu Post
NAIROBI, NOV 09 – George Mburu’s cell phone beeps on Sunday at his home in Nairobi’s Majengo slum. He reads a message reminding him to take his medicine.
Mburu, 32, is one of 500 HIV-positive patients in Nairobi who receive an SMS every Sunday from the HAART Cell Phone Study Centre, a government initiative experimenting with cell phones in the treatment and prevention of HIV infection.
Over two million people are infected with the virus in Kenya, and four out of five Kenyans with HIV are unaware of their status, according to the Kenya AIDS Indicator Survey. The prevalent stigma has stopped many from visiting clinics.
However, the cell phone project aims to tackle this problem by offering a discreet monitoring system. “We hope to take this pilot programme to a massive scale by next year,” said Coordinator Sarah Karanja. “The patients have found it very helpful and want it to continue. The results are very exciting.”
Mburu, speaking at the HIV Clinic in Pumwani, said: “For the last two years, SMS have been reminding me about my anti-retroviral doses. “I feel much better now. I know someone, somewhere is taking care of me.”
The private nature of cell phone communication seems to be a key to the project’s success. “Cell phones serve as a great alternative helping patients overcome the fear of being noticed and stigmatised,” said Karanja.
Besides, the SMS programme has been emerging as one of the best means of promoting behavioural change.
“Before I came here, I was depressed,” said Virginia, a 35-year-old mother who was at the HIV Clinic in Pumwani to know whether her three-month-old baby had been infected with HIV. “Now, with strict adherence, treatment, and care, I have regained my health.” She is one of the lucky 17 percent HIV infected (350,000) receiving anti-retroviral treatment.
“The biggest challenge in combating HIV is adherence to anti-retroviral therapy,” said Dr. Francis Nyamiobo, a senior doctor at the clinic. “The most efficient solution, I think, lies in utilising personal gadgets like cell phones to reach out to the target population.”
