{"id":6279,"date":"2014-06-30T10:02:49","date_gmt":"2014-06-30T10:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/newsroom\/?p=6279"},"modified":"2026-06-30T11:37:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-30T10:37:13","slug":"gsma-announces-mhealth-partnership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/newsroom\/press-release\/gsma-announces-mhealth-partnership\/","title":{"rendered":"GSMA ANNOUNCES MHEALTH PARTNERSHIP  ACROSS SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>Inter-Industry Partnership to Connect Mobile and  Health Industries, With a Focus on Maternal and Child Health in a Region With  Over 15 Million Pregnant Woman <\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Johannesburg<\/strong>: The GSMA today  announced that its Mobile for Development mHealth programme has launched  a new cross-ecosystem partnership designed to provide a range of mHealth  services to women and children, with a particular focus on nutrition, across  Sub-Saharan Africa. Initial launch partners for the initiative include Gemalto,  Hello Doctor, Lifesaver, Mobenzi, Mobilium, MTN, Omega Diagnostics and Samsung.  This programme could have far-reaching impact; according to GSMA Intelligence,  there is a total annual, addressable market of 15.5 million pregnant women and  mothers with children under five years of age. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis  new mobile ecosystem partnership, developed by the GSMA, is committed to  connecting the mobile and health industries to develop commercially sustainable  mHealth services that solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/public-policy\/regulatory-environment\/mobile-energy-efficiencyt public health needs,\u201d said Tom Phillips, Chief  Regulatory Officer, GSMA. \u201cThe  companies in this partnership are working to deliver the objectives of the  United Nations Every Women Every Child Global Strategy, as well as the Global  Nutrition for Growth Compact, in the areas of nutrition and maternal and child  health. We call on mobile ecosystem players, health providers, governments,  NGOs, civil society and others to work with us to launch life-saving mobile  health services.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The partners will jointly launch services in seven  countries &#8211; C\u00f4te d\u2019Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria, Rwanda, South Africa, Uganda and  Zambia &#8211; from September 2014. Phase two, which commences in 2015, will  incorporate additional partners and services and will address four more countries:  Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. Collectively, the partnership will reduce  barriers to handset ownership and connectivity for consumers and health workers  by committing to: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Offer discounted Samsung handsets and tablets to  consumers and health workers across Africa;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Provide access to the Samsung ecosystem (e.g. music,  video and other value-added services) to be used as an incentive to drive  health usage;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pre-embed a Smart Health application that provides a  range of professional applications, information and services on 80 million  Samsung handsets;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Leverage existing and new MTN SIMs to allow free access  to health content, health registration and data collection via the Smart Health  application;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Provide simplified access to MTN mobile money,  advertising and billing capabilities; and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Make innovative diagnostics like the Omega Diagnostics  Visitect HIV CD4 point of care solution more affordable and accessible via  mobile integration.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Through these commitments, the partners aim to  simplify the relationships between mobile and health stakeholders, while  maximising the ubiquitous nature of mobile technology and its capabilities for health  providers and, ultimately, for patients. Health content, patient registration,  data collection and critical diagnostics will increase the access to health  care for vulnerable women and children across Africa, while providing the  delivery mechanism for mHealth services that are commercially sustainable and  scalable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis  partnership heralds a new era in the delivery of health care in Sub-Saharan  Africa, where currently access to even the most basic of health services  remains the worst in the world. MTN is therefore proud to be part of this  collaborative effort, which will deliver solutions that harnesses the expertise  of some of the leading companies in the world, to improve access to health care  for many of our customers across the seven launch countries,\u201d said MTN Group  Chief Commercial Officer, Pieter Verkade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cCurrent  lab based static diagnostics tools are unable to solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/public-policy\/regulatory-environment\/mobile-energy-efficiencyt growing patients\u2019 needs  as countries step up their HIV treatment programs in conjunction with the  decentralisation of CD4 testing.&nbsp; Multi-layer partnerships for mHealth  smartphone applications are poised to become an essential foundation in the  bridge to augment&nbsp;the continuum of care to the neediest patients, whilst  also providing management information and real time surveillance data,\u201d said Andrew  Shepherd, Founder and Managing Director, Omega Diagnostics Ltd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;\u201cHealthcare in Africa has benefited greatly  from advancements in mobile technology. Simultaneously, the healthcare industry  is moving towards a delivery model that is more patient-centered, value-based  and accessible in even remote environments. In this regard, Samsung is  perfectly positioned to add value to this digital evolution in healthcare, as  our devices are both at the cutting edge of innovation and available widely  across the continent. These capabilities provide the much needed healthcare  support in Africa, ensuring that we are aligned with the Millennium Development  Goals as set by the United Nations,\u201d said Thabiet Allie, Head of Content and  Services at Samsung Electronics Africa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more information please visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/mobile-for-development\/gsma-health-tech\/\">www.gsma.com\/solutions-and-impact\/connectivity-for-good\/mobile-for-development\/mhealth\/<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">-ENDS- <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>About  the GSMA<\/strong><br \/>\n  The GSMA represents the interests of mobile  operators worldwide.&nbsp;Spanning more than 220 countries and territories, the GSMA unites  nearly 800 of the world\u2019s mobile operators with more than 250 companies in the  broader mobile ecosystem, including  handset makers, software companies, equipment providers and Internet companies,  as well as organisations in industry sectors such as financial services,  healthcare, media, transport and utilities. The GSMA also produces  industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia  Expo.&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For more information, please  visit the GSMA corporate website at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gsma.com\">www.gsma.com<\/a>. Follow the GSMA on Twitter: @GSMA.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Media Contacts: <\/strong><br \/>\nFor the GSMA<br \/>\nCharlie Meredith-Hardy<br \/>\n+44 7917 298428<br \/>\n<a href=\"mailto:CMeredith-Hardy@webershandwick.com\">CMeredith-Hardy@webershandwick.com<\/a>&nbsp;<br \/>\n  Jill  Hamilton<br \/>\n    +27&nbsp;826&nbsp;588  831&nbsp;<br \/>\n  <a href=\"mailto:jhamilton@webershandwick.com\">jhamilton@webershandwick.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">  GSMA Press Office <br \/>\n  <a href=\"mailto:press@gsma.com\">press@gsma.com <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Inter-Industry Partnership to Connect Mobile and Health Industries, With a Focus on Maternal and Child Health in a Region With Over 15 Million Pregnant Woman Johannesburg: The GSMA today announced that its Mobile for Development mHealth programme has launched a new cross-ecosystem partnership designed to provide a range of mHealth services to women and children, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":6519,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"algolia_discover_type":[6627],"class_list":["post-6279","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release","algolia_discover_type-article"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v28.0 (Yoast SEO v28.3) - 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