Vodacom joins fight against HIV

Rose Moremoholo

MASERU

VODAFONE Foundation has committed USD$8 million (approximately M120 million) in the treatment of Lesotho’s children and pregnant women living with HIV.Vodafone Foundation is working in collaboration with Vodacom Lesotho Foundation, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Ministry of Health.

The project called Moyo, which means close to my heart in Swahili, will identify children and pregnant mothers living with the virus and help them to remain in treatment.They will be helped through a mobile technology and M-pesa mobile-money.

Vodacom Lesotho Board Chairman Matjato Moteane said the aim is to “double the number of HIV positive children on treatment in the next three years”.Pilot projects, which started in September last year, have run through Maseru and Leribe districts where, through mobile clinics, families were encouraged to bring their children out for testing and for those that are infected to keep them on treatment.

“These mobile clinics, staffed with healthcare specialists, mobilise communities on the back of Vodacom Lesotho’s strong brand to come out to sites once every month and receive health services,” Moteane said during the launch.

The technology helps to collect data, manage patients and coordinate services.  M-Pesa will be used to provide transport money for children and pregnant women to health care services. Moteane said in his village home it costs M6 to get to nearest clinic.

“This may look like little money, but for someone who has no money this is too much and through this project we are trying to reach to such people who find it hard getting to a health care service because they don’t have money to get there,” Moteane said.

Vodafone Foundation project manager Lee Wells said the focus of the project “is not only to find children with HIV but to bring health care services to the people in rural areas”.

“The reason Vodafone Foundation became involved in the project was because of a request for additional investment from VCL and we went to our funders who told us they were keen for us to use the networks and our branding to get more children in health care”.

“It’s not about the Vodacom Lesotho brand but it’s about bringing health messages from a trusted partner. We know VCL has a strong reputation here, and all the partners asked that we use the brand to bring all people to the health centres,” Wells said.

An SMS will be sent to a registered member who hasvisited a clinic or was visited by door-to-door health workers to remind them of their appointment.

If they need transport money,it will be sent to them through M-pesa.

Minister of Health, ’Molotsi Monyamane, said he was happy that private companies such as Vodacom are helping in the fight against HIV and Aids.

“I believe, for the first time ever in our country, we have a private sector company putting a huge amount of its resources, its entire workforce and expertise behind an initiative that is targeted at improving the lives of its customers at this scale.”

Monyamane for a long time there has been a gap between health service providers and the patients because health facilities are far from the people.

“Despite the fact that the drugs are free and the information is free there was a gap.” The question, he said, was how to get people to the treatment centres

“The gap was with people accessing our services,” Monyamane said.

The minister said with 212 clinics, 18 hospitals, “we could not encourage people enough to take pills and swallow them”.

“Why? Because we became too regimental, we did not listen to people. We asked people to test and come back three more times while they walk half a day only to be told ‘we are closed’ when they get to the clinics”.

Minister of Communication, KhotsoLetsatsi, said this public-private partnership should be an indication to the rest of the private sector, the development community, and the public sector.

“Telecommunication has proven that when applied meaningfully it can go way beyond connecting individuals telephonically but it can also create opportunities for life improvement across all areas of life, whether is it through driving financial inclusion or through connecting children and pregnant women to much needed lifesaving treatment,” he said.

The United States ambassador, Matthew Harrington,through whom the USAID contributed US$D3 million (about M45 million) to this exciting public-private partnership said the US was very proud to be close and dedicated partner in the fight against the HIV epidemic in Lesotho.

“Today we have come together to celebrate an innovative new approach to the fight against HIV/AIDS,” Harrington said.

“It is an innovation both in terms of funding model, a public private partnership and also because of the way this partnership uses mobile technology to find and to care for as many Basotho children as possible,” he said.

Harrigntoncongratulated Lesotho for the progress it has made against the HIV epidemic.

“We are beginning to see glimmer of hope now, after so many years of hard work and bad news. Despite the burden of HIV, a severe shortage of health workers, and resource limitation, Lesotho has made some progress against HIV epidemic,” Harrington said.

Harrington said the element of partnership that they are supporting is an approach called index-patient tracking, which is designed to identify HIV positive children and start them on live-saving treatment as soon as possible.

“This will be accomplished via door-to-door HIV testing and counseling and provision of outreach services for pregnant women and children,” he said.

There will be a leading celebration of the Moyo Lesotho Benefit concert at ThabaBosiu Cultural Village on Saturday where KingLetsie III and Queen ’MasenateMohatoSeeiso will be present as the patrons of Moyo Lesotho initiative.