WHO launches two Digital Health products at Africa regional meeting in Malawi
Lilongwe, Malawi – WHO Department of Reproductive Health and Research including HRP, has launched two Digital Health products which aim to help improve reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health. These are the mHealth Assessment and Planning Scale (MAPS) tool and the Practical guide for engaging with mobile network operators in mHealth for reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH). The MAPS tool is undergoing validation at the conference with an official launch of the final product planned in June.
The launch is taking place at the Africa Regional Meeting on Digital Health for Overcoming Barriers to Ending Preventable Child and Maternal Deaths and Achieving Universal Health Coverage, an event co-sponsored by the United States Agency for International
Development (USAID) and the United Nations Foundation. The products have been developed in partnership, including with the United Nations Foundation, as part of the activities of the joint-learning mechanism of the UN Innovation Working Group. These
activities came from the UN Innovation Work Group catalytic mHealth grant mechanism – established in 2011 to improve the potential of existing mHealth innovations to scale and contribute to maternal, newborn, and child health.
A practical guide for engaging with mobile network operators in mHealth for reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health (RMNCH)
The Practical guide for engaging with mobile network operators in mHealth for reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health aims to develop an understanding of the opportunities and challenges in developing partnerships with mobile network operators. Written in language which is clear and easy to understand and including a glossary, it highlights realistic approaches for creating shared value between MNOs and mHealth projects. In addition, it showcases examples of different kinds of engagement and partnerships.
The engagement process presented in this guide draws largely from examples which relate to maternal, newborn and child health, in recognition of the fact that this is a priority health domain for both mHealth service providers and global health initiatives such as the Millennium Development Goals and the UN Secretary General’s Every Woman Every Child Initiative. Experts representing organizations from both the health sector, and mobile network operators, contributed to the development of the guide through a combination of structured interviews and informal conversations facilitated by the Groupe Speciale Mobile Association.
The mHealth Assessment and Planning for Scale (MAPS) tool
The mHealth Assessment and Planning for Scale (MAPS) Tool was developed in collaboration between the WHO Department of Reproductive Health and Research including HRP, the United Nations Foundation and the Global mHealth Initiative based at Johns Hopkins University. The tool aims to work as a self-assessment instrument, to help to improve mHealth projects’ capacity to assess an innovation’s feasibility to be scaled-up, or its progress in being scaling up – as well as to identify the areas that require further attention.
The tool includes a conceptual framework which offers a structure for organizing the specific considerations and activities critical to the successful scale up of a project. These are the six “axes of scale”, which incorporate groundwork, partnerships, financial health, technology and architecture, operations, and monitoring and evaluation. The tool was developed through systematic reviews, an iterative process of qualitative research, and reviewed amongst the network of the UN Innovation Working Group mHealth projects. The mHealth Assessment and Planning for Scale (MAPS) tool will be launched in Malawi for consultation, and then later finalized and made available for public use.