Tanzanian Surgeons extend their reach by leveraging mMoney

CNN has a positive story on how mMoney is enabling Doctors to send bus fares to patients in need of treatment for obstetric fistula.

“The average return bus fare is $60 per woman, this is 4 times the salary and income of families here in Tanzania, and so we actually overcome that by transfering transport grants via mobile phone bank” Erwin Telemans, CCBRT Disability Hospital

“Last year we performed 163 surgeries, this year up to now we’ve done 253, a tremendous improvement through mPesa” Dr Robert Marenga, Surgeon

A very positive mMoney/mHealth story that makes me think:

> In the perspective of global donor efforts in this area: At most these travel grants come to less than $16,000 (eg. $60 x 253). I wonder if the millions being donated to drive mHealth initiatives (eg. HP’s $1 million contribution to the work of the mHealth Alliance) can be put to use as effectively or does mMoney now mean clinicians in emerging markets are those best placed to allocate resources?

> Are we doing enough to leverage mobiles to help avoid the need for corrective surgery? Are Tanzanian midwives getting good quality educational materials? How can mobile content delivery services (such as OVILifeTools) help? Imagine the potential if every nurse in Tanzania could be given a smartphone (or a microSD memory card) preloaded with up to date quality clinical content?