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Novartis, the Swiss pharmaceutical giant, has launched a technology-based healthcare programme – called SMS for Life 2.0 – in Kaduna State, according to a statement released on Monday.

The programme aims to increase the availability of essential medicines such as antimalarials, vaccines, as well as HIV, tuberculosis and leprosy treatments. Novartis said the programme will achieve this objective by having local health workers use smartphones and tablet computers to track stock levels of essential medicines and send notifications to district medical officers when stock levels are low.

The programme builds on the SMS for Life programme launched by Novartis in 2009, which used cell phones to manage stock-outs of malaria medicines in more than 10,000 healthcare facilities in sub-Saharan countries. Novartis said the SMS for Life 2.0 is a public-private partnership with the Kaduna State Ministry of Health and Vodacom, the South Africa telecoms giant.

“Companies must join forces with the public sector to co-create innovative solutions to improve access to healthcare around the world,” said Joseph Jimenez, Novartis CEO. “This is the first step in what we hope will be an impactful public health initiative, unleashing the potential of mobile technology and big data to increase the quality of care for underserved patients.”

According to Novartis, disease surveillance data combined with the stock reporting function can improve supply chain management, allowing authorities to better forecast demand for the treatments.
 
“We welcome the introduction of SMS for Life 2.0 in primary healthcare facilities, where we often face stockouts of medicines,” said Dr. Hadiza S. Balarabe, Executive Secretary of Kaduna State Primary Health Care Development Agency. “With more than six million people, Kaduna is Nigeria’s third most populous state. We hope the programme will improve healthcare services by expanding access to essential medicines, thus reducing disease prevalence in communities.”

In addition to the launch in Nigeria, Novartis and its non-profit partner, Right to Care, have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Zambian Ministry of Health to deploy SMS for Life 2.0 in up to 2,000 health facilities across the country. The programme, which will include stock reporting, disease surveillance and eLearning, will be supported by Vodacom and is expected to launch in the second quarter of 2017.

“Our vision in partnering with Kaduna State is to support the development of productive societies which are healthy, well-educated and economically active,” said Vuyani Jarana, Vodacom Business CEO. The SMS for Life 2.0 initiative will contribute towards better quality and more accessible healthcare services which will in turn contribute to an increase in life expectancy in Nigeria.”