HP, mothers2mothers partner to prevent mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Africa

HP recently announced at the Digital Life Design Conference, HP and mothers2mothers, a South Africa-based non-governmental organisation, announced a new collaboration that will use the power of innovation to help prevent the transmission of HIV from HIV-positive pregnant mothers in Africa to their children.

New database innovation and cloud and mobile services from HP will convert the current paper-based patient records system into a digital community that enables easy sharing of information across the m2m network of more than 700 sites in sub-Saharan Africa. This more efficient management system will empower counsellors to provide more effective education and support services to pregnant mothers.

The system will provide easy access to up-to-date information on patient treatment plans and advanced reporting tools to provide faster and more effective access to information. This will allow m2m to scale knowledge and best practices across its network.

In the then and there phase of the programme, m2m employees will be able to collect and share data via basic mobile phones, creating an “always connected” environment. This will enable employees to collect data more efficiently from patients and, over time, will help the operation scale to meet the demands of more patients.

The HP global health initiative

The HP global health initiative, a key part of the company's global social research programme, aims to enrich society by using the breadth and scale of HP innovation to drive structural, systemic improvements in health access and delivery.

HP connects social entrepreneurs and non-profit organisations with access to mobile, cloud and enterprise innovation expertise so they can build unparalleled solutions that ultimately save lives.

Innovative mobile phone

HP recently announced alliances with African social enterprise mPedigree to fight counterfeit malaria drugs through an innovative mobile phone and cloud services solution, and with the Clinton Health Access Initiative to appreciably improve the speed of HIV diagnosis for infants in Kenya.

“Global health is one of the last frontiers for IT transformation and holds immense promise for significant improvement to the quality of care available through the appropriate application and use of innovation. With mothers2mothers' rich understanding of health challenges in Africa, we can transform the lives of women in Africa and provide greater hope in winning the fight against HIV/AIDS,” said Frank van Rees, Country Managing Director and HP Enterprise Business Lead, South Africa.