Texting Malnutrition Data

By Virginia Prescott on Tuesday, June 9, 2009.

For many Malawians, life is a daily struggle against hunger and disease. Life expectancy in Malawi is less than 44 years and one-in-eight children born in this Sub-Saharan country won’t live to see their fifth birthday.

Enter UNICEF’s Innovations and Development team. Last summer, they traveled to Malawi to set-up a RapidSMS or short message service. SMS allows health workers in rural areas to instantly text childhood malnutrition data to government and aid agencies using cell phones, so that professionals can react more quickly to an outbreak of famine or other health crises.

Sean Blaschke is a consultant for UNICEF. He traveled to Malawi to implement the technology, and he joins us from New York City to tell us more.

Other ways Rapid SMS is being used in Africa

(Photo by khym54 via Flickr/Creative Commons)

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Word of Mouth is all about what's new. Online and on-air, the show looks at our fascinating and ever-changing world, and puts the latest ideas under a microscope. Word of Mouth investigates everything from science and technology, to health and the environment, to new trends in popular culture. The show airs Monday through Thursday at noon and is hosted by Virginia Prescott.