Abstract
Background: Village Malaria Workers (VMWs) are lay people trained to provide a valuable role in frontline testing and treatment of malaria in rural villages in Cambodia. Emergence of artemisinin-resistant malaria highlights the essential role of such VMWs in surveillance and early treatment of malaria. Smartphone technology offers huge potential to support VMWs in isolated and resource-poor settings. Methods: We investigated the feasibility of issuing established VMWs with a smartphone, bespoke Android application and solar charger to support their role. 27 VMWs in Kampong Cham and Kratie provinces participated. Results: 26/27 of the smartphones deployed were working well at study completion twelve months later. Interviews with VMWs using quantitative and qualitative methods revealed pride, ease of use and reports of faster communication with the smartphone. VMWs also expressed a strong wish to help people presenting with non-malarial fever, for which further potential supportive smartphone applications are increasingly available. Conclusions: As a result of this pilot study, two smartphone based reporting systems for malaria have been developed at the Cambodian National Malaria Center, and the programme is now being extended nationwide. The full code for the smartphone application is made available to other researchers and healthcare providers with this article. Smartphones represent a feasible platform for developing the VMW role to include other health conditions, thus maintaining the relevance of these important community health workers.
Highlights
More than 3 billion people, including 70% of the world’s poorest people, live in rural areas[1], where access to skilled medical care may be difficult[2], especially during the rainy season
Mobile phone technology provides the potential to improve the range and quality of services delivered by community health workers[4], but the majority of published literature on feasibility in developing countries is focussed on standard mobile phones (“feature phones”) rather than the generation of smartphones
Village Malaria Workers (VMWs) in Kampong Cham province had previous experience with feature phones, while those in Kratie province had no experience of using phones in their work
Summary
More than 3 billion people, including 70% of the world’s poorest people, live in rural areas[1], where access to skilled medical care may be difficult[2], especially during the rainy season. The Cambodian National Malaria Center (CNM) has an established network of Village Malaria Workers (VMWs) across 19 provinces covering a population of approximately 1.5 million people[5]. Village Malaria Workers (VMWs) are lay people trained to provide a valuable role in frontline testing and treatment of malaria in rural villages in Cambodia. Methods: We investigated the feasibility of issuing established VMWs with a smartphone, bespoke Android application and solar charger to support their role. Conclusions: As a result of this pilot study, two smartphone based reporting systems for malaria have been developed at the Cambodian National Malaria Center, and the programme is being extended nationwide. Smartphones represent a feasible platform for developing the VMW role to include other health conditions, maintaining the relevance of these important community health workers
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