'Phones for Health' Campaign Targets AIDS in Africa (1/2)

Recently we talked about Voxiva, a provider of information technology systems for health workers in poor countries. This Washington-based company has been working for 3 years with the government of Rwanda. Voxiva created a system that uses mobile phones and other devices for health workers to report and share information on HIV/AIDS.

That same technology will now be used in a wider effort to fight the deadly virus in other African countries. A campaignlaunched by a partnership of public and private organizations aims to use cell phones to improve HIV/AIDS care.

The 10-million-dollar campaign is called "Phones for Health." Health workers will use mobile phones loaded with special software to enter information into a central computer system. The workers will also be able to use the Motorola handsets to receive treatment guidelines, order medicines and get training materials.

Phones for Health was announced in February at the GSM World Congress in Barcelona, Spain. GSM is the global system for mobile communications, a cellular technology used for voice and data services.