Mobile phones have become a powerful tool for disease prevention, control and health information, particularly in areas beyond the electrical grid. Health workers all across the world are using mobile technology to improve maternal and child health, HIV diagnosis and information exchange with health centres and hospitals.
The rapid growth in mobile technology has made a number of mobile health or mHealth initiatives possible, giving rise to an accessible a new toolkit to save lives and improve health service. According to d-tree International, 1000 Community Health Workers can serve a population of 1.5 million children thanks to the increase in diagnostic and treatment accuracy.
It is lack of access to energy, however, that hinders the widespread use and development of these innovations in healthcare.
Thankfully, we have the solution: our Little Sun Charge harnesses the free energy of the sun and enables community health workers to charge their devices wherever they are, so they can stay connected and support their communities with vital new mHealth services. Pictured below, for example, is a health worker showing the mobile phone she used to deliver a baby. Next step: powering such a phone with the power of the sun!
As Felix Hallwachs, managing director of Little Sun, says: “We are excited to supply an energy tool for these services – it is a step into a more equitable future, in which professional health support is more broadly available. At Little Sun we believe in a sunny future – and a healthy one.”
In solidarity with the protection and empowerment of pregnant women in off-grid areas, Olafur donated his grant from #YokoOno‘s LennonOno prize to the Maternity Foundation, ensuring more women are able to deliver their babies in a safe and nurturing environment.
(Photo credit: D-Tree International and Mark Leong, WHO)
