A Mobile Alert Created in South Africa Helps Raise Awareness about COVID-19

Praekelt.org has gone global by putting information about coronavirus into the hands of millions. HealthAlert is currently being implemented as COVID-19 Connect in South Africa by the National Department of Health. Countries or organisations can roll out their own versions in local languages and enhance the service with country-specific information that is trusted and up to date. The Praekelt Foundation is an African nonprofit organization dedicated to using mobile technology to improve the lives of people living in poverty. It was founded in 2007 as an offshoot of Praekelt Consulting. Notable projects that the foundation is involved in include: Young Africa Live, a mobile community where young people can talk candidly and learn about love, intimate relationships and sexual intercourse and HIV/AIDS. Project Masiluleke (Zulu for “let us advise” or “may we give counsel”), a campaign to promote AIDS awareness using “Please Call Me” messages, in partnership with the PopTech Accelerator and other companies. TxtAlert, an appointment reminder system for people on chronic medication. Yoza, a project to promote youth literacy using short cellphone stories, or m-novels, developed in conjunction with the Shuttleworth Foundation and MomConnect, an application for pregnant women.

SOURCE: VOA