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Will Africa Beat AIDS With Cell Phones?
The relatively new technology has a role to play in a continent plagued by inadequate health centres and dilapidated infrastructure, said Michel Sidibe, the executive director of the United Nations AIDS agency.
"You can talk about different policies, about capacity building, but you can't beat this kind of epidemic with facility-based approach only," he added.
A major mobile telephone operator in Nigeria already runs a toll-free call scheme that links callers to counsellors on HIV-AIDS concerns.
"It's a fascinating initiative," said Sidibe.
"Its advantage is that you don't have to move from your place to a centre where... you may be stigmatised.
"You have free communication and quality advice, which can help you take a decision."
With basic intensive training and armed with mobile phones, local community or village workers could be a part of the health service delivery system, he said.
For despite the resources poured in years into Sub-Saharan Africa to combat HIV-AIDS, the region remains the world's most heavily affected, accounting for 67 percent of HIV infections, according to UNAIDS' own figures.
"You need first to look at a community-based approach, tap on non-conventional facilities," Sidibe told AFP during a recent trip to Nigeria.
It was time that Africa, saddled with a myriad of economic, political and social woes, got back to basics, he argued.
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