Karangué

A child dies from an illness that could have been prevented by a vaccine every 16 seconds. More than 800 women die while giving birth each day. In Senegal, four women die while giving birth each day. Illiteracy, neglect, neglect, even ignorance about when to vaccinate children, failure to observe antenatal and postnatal visits have long been the cause of high infant and maternal mortality rate. Nowadays, technological advances are not only beneficial, they also represent an effective tool for solving many health problems. Thus, the question arises as to how ICT could contribute to a significant reduction in infant mortality rates which are due to the non-vaccination of children? How can mothers be encouraged to attend antenatal and postnatal visits in order to reduce maternal mortality? How can mothers be encouraged to give birth in medical healthcare facilities?

Karangué enables the monitoring of pregnant women and helps to expand the immunisation programme through reminders systems using SMS messages and voice calls in local languages ​​using the voices national icons. On top of that, its improved version provides practical advice for adolescents and young people on sexual and reproductive health by means of interactive quizzes on mobile phones, without needing internet connections, as well as the possibility of making a hospital appointment using USSD/SMS.

The innovation involves using TICs to promote health services, to offer mothers assistance so that their babies can receive all the vaccines they need after birth, and so that they can be at their antenatal and post natal appointments. It is an intelligent notification system that uses calls in the local language and SMS messages which are sent out 48 and 24 hours before the vaccination date, ante- and postnatal visit. The calls are made on the basis of the area, various national languages, or the country where the project is being undertaken, using the voices of national icons for each language, such as BABA MAAL, SIMON SÉNÉ, MARIE NGONÉ, EL HADJI NDIAYE, and others. Senegal example (Wolof, Pulaar, Sérer, Diola, French, etc.) In addition, Karangué can be used to send practical advice to pregnant women, as well as information about occasional epidemics.