Text messaging continues to be utilized for public health needs in Africa. 

Across the continent, more than 30 percent of malaria medicines are estimated to be fake, and many look identical to the real thing.

Soon, Africans will be able to text message a code to a project called mPedigree that allows individuals to verify whether or not their drugs are genuine.  The system is free for consumers and is paid for by pharmaceutical companies and governments. 

Health officials say the innovative system could help Africa curb the tide of fake drugs and potentially save hundreds of thousands of lives. Experts think about 700,000 people die from malaria or tuberculosis every year after taking counterfeit drugs, with some containing little more than sawdust, baby powder and water.   In addition, fake medicines speed up drug resistance. If a drug contains some but not enough of the active ingredient, it won’t kill the disease’s virus or bacteria, but gives it a chance to mutate into a deadlier form instead.

Parsons Students have developed a mechanism to use social media to inform distributors of needs for medicine in remote locations. 

“One of the big problems in preventing and managing illness in Africa is the failure of governments to get medicines they have bought or received from outside agencies down to the village level.

In May of 2009, Oxfam and Health Action International (HAI) Africa convened 30 civil society organizations (CSOs) and policy-makers in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to examine strategies for reducing stock-outs of medicines in Africa. Using Google Maps and SMS, the students were able to track 10 key medicines in four African countries.” 

This system is very similar to the SMS program that Zanibar uses to send in malaria results via cell phones to prevent possible outbreaks of the disease.  As technology continues to connect people at the local level, it is enouraging to see those connections help those most in need.