Read the blog post (with hyperlinks) here: https://communities.cisco.com/community/solutions/sp/mobility/blog/2013/10/28/ioe-mobility-case-study-2-service-providers-deliver-mobile-healthcare-information-across-africa For more discussions and topics around SP Mobility, please visit our Mobility Community: http://cisco.com/go/mobilitycommunity

1. IoE Mobility Case Study #2: Service Providers Deliver Mobile Healthcare
Information across Africa
By Dee-Dee Atta (Service Provider Marketing Manager, Cisco)
Across the Democratic Republic of Congo there is limited access to healthcare leads to continued
malaria outbreaks. By providing a Mobile Internet platform Congolese people are able to connect to
an information network, bringing access to health information about malaria prevention and
outbreaks. As a result, citizens are educated about malaria preparation and prevention; decreasing
malaria outbreaks. The connections enabled by service providers are saving lives in the Democratic
Republic of Congo.
Let’s take a deeper look at the numbers:
Source: Cisco Service Provider Slideshare
In the Democratic Republic of Congo there is limited access to healthcare across the country and
continued malaria outbreaks are a concern. The health infrastructure is very weak, and it is estimated

2. that 80 percent or 60 million of its 75 million people do not have access to health facilities
(source: Poverty Matters). For this large portion of the population, over 400 children die every day in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo and almost half of them from Malaria (source: World Health
Organization).
Service Providers play a key role in connecting people in previously unconnected areas. By providing
a reliable mobile network in the Democratic Republic of Congo health advisors are able to
communicate to remote areas about malaria education and updates. Through the Mobile Internet,
Service Providers are connecting more people to resources and information than ever before, helping
to decrease the impact of malaria in Africa. Mobile devices are becoming the communication method
of choice across the Middle East and Africa. In fact, 144.7 million devices were added to the mobile
network across the region in 2012 alone.
It’s very difficult and expensive to receive medical treatment in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Service Providers bringing a reliable mobile network allow organizations such as Imagine No
Malaria to create a wave of information sharing in unconnected areas. Imagine No Malaria uses an
SMS based platform to send automated mobile messages to healthcare coordinators in more than
100 health facilities in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Messages are targeted to increase
awareness about the ways to prevent Malaria. Imagine No Malaria has realized a five percent
decrease in Malaria (source:Imagine No Malaria) contraction through the malaria information
provided over their mobile SMS network.
For the Democratic Republic of Congo, Service Providers are at the heart of the connectivity of
people, processes, data and things – the Internet of Everything (IoE). Health organizations utilize a
key component of the IoE – mobile technology – to share information and improve disease prevention
in Africa. The IoE turns information into actions that enable people to be better educated, make better
decisions, and enjoy a better quality of life.
Read Imagine No Malaria’s full story submission here
This case study is part 2 of a 5 part series titled IoE Mobility Case Studies. The third case study of
this series will be coming out next Monday 11/4 on Service Providers bridging communication for the
hearing impaired.
More Resources
IoE Mobility Case Study #1: Service Providers Facilitate New Economies in Developing Countries
Slidecast: Service Providers Making Amazing Things Happen: Use Cases for the Internet of
Everything
Visual Networking Index: VNI Mobile Forecast Highlights, 2012-2017
For more discussions and topics around SP Mobility, please visit our Mobility
Community:http://cisco.com/go/mobilitycommunity