“We are going to develop a digital version of IMCI for mobiles and equip health care staff with smartphones and light measuring instruments. We are also considering developing lightweight solar panels to charge the mobiles”, says Sven Carlsson, Professor of Informatics and head of the research group from the School of Economics and Management.
In the research project, which will be based at health clinics outside cities in northern Malawi, researchers from several countries, including the UK, Sweden, Norway and Malawi, will collaborate with aid organisations working in Malawi. Sven Carlsson thinks the project title, Life Support, is well chosen.
“With mobile IMCI we can connect measuring instruments to the telephones to read important indicators such as pulse, body temperature and breathing. This will make it easier for health care staff to use the manual and make a correct diagnosis. It is an aid that will save lives in the long term.”
In addition to better diagnosis, the information the health care staff gather through the mobile technology will provide a picture of the geography of the diseases and make it easier to plan and distribute drugs and identify possible epidemics at an early stage.
Project members from Supporting Life will meet for a kick-off in Lund on 18–19 June. The LU participants in the project are Professor Sven Carlsson, Dr Bo Andersson, reader Odd Steen, and doctoral student Nicklas Holmberg, all from the Department of Informatics.
Henrik Killander
About the project: Of every 1 000 live births in Malawi, 133 children die before their fifth birthday, often of treatable diseases like malaria and diarrhoea. The EU project Supporting LIFE, which has a budget of EUR 3.7 million, aims to contribute to the UN goal of cutting infant mortality by two thirds by 2015.
