How are we doing?

15Aug08

GATHER* is gathering momentum!  We are near completion
of the first field test of the platform in Uganda, and
while we have some small bugs to fix, we are feeling
good about how the system worked. The first use was
to expedite the regular disease surveillance and
reporting system in 20 health centers in Homia district. 

Ugandan health centers are required to report each week on
13 diseases and on other emerging infections suspected,
including polio, rabies, cholera, dysentery, measles, malaria
and other infectious diseases.  The current practices require
the completion of two paper forms that must be taken to the
district or sub-district office, often by foot or by bicycle. 
Reporting delays are common.  This approach is pretty common
in Africa with village and community health centers often in
remote areas without good transportation.

GATHER allowed the health workers to complete their reports
on cell phones and to send that data over the cellular network
to a server at the Ministry of Health. The GATHER server
confirms delivery, sends the data to the appropriate
district office and puts into the legacy database at the
Ministry of Health.   GATHER is designed to alert health
officials when reported numbers are outside of the norm
and may indicate an outbreak.

Recently implemented international health regulations require
UN member countries to report outbreaks on certain infectious
diseases within 24 hours.  GATHER has expedited reporting of
this critical data from rural health settings and has improved
the Ministry’s ability to comply with the regulations and to
quickly respond to outbreaks.

*GATHER is an opensource platform for data collection
and reporting, designed to work with multiple electronic
devices, developed by AED-SATELLIFE and Dimagi.  We are
gathering the best open source elements into the
platform.  Gather applications, gather data, gather
people, gather and share knowledge.  The current phase
of development is supported by a grant from the
Rockefeller Foundation.

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