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Healthcare challenges in low and middle income countries (LMICs) have been the focus of many digital initiatives that have aimed to improve both access to healthcare and the quality of healthcare delivery. Moving beyond the initial phase of piloting and experimentation, these initiatives are now more clearly focused on the need for effective scaling and integration to provide sustainable benefit to healthcare systems. Based on real-life case studies of scaling digital health in LMICs, five key focus areas have been identified as being critical for success. Firstly, the intrinsic characteristics of the programme or initiative must offer tangible benefits to address an unmet need, with end-user input from the outset. Secondly, all stakeholders must be engaged, trained and motivated to implement a new initiative, and thirdly, the technical profile of the initiative should be driven by simplicity, interoperability and adaptability. The fourth focus area is the policy environment in which the digital healthcare initiative is intended to function, where alignment with broader healthcare policy is essential, as is sustainable funding that will support long-term growth, including private sector funding where appropriate. Finally, the extrinsic ecosystem should be considered, including the presence of the appropriate infrastructure to support the use of digital initiatives at scale. At the global level, collaborative efforts towards a less-siloed approach to scaling and integrating digital health may provide the necessary leadership to enable innovative solutions to reach healthcare workers and patients in LMICs. This review provides insights into best practice for scaling digital health initiatives in LMICs derived from practical experience in real-life case studies, discussing how these may influence the development and implementation of health programmes in the future.

Introduction: Reducing maternal death remains a challenge in many low-income countries. Preventing maternal deaths depends significantly on the presence of a skilled birth attendant at child delivery. The main objective of this study was to find out whether use of mobile transport vouchers would result in an increased number of pregnant women choosing to deliver at a health facility rather than at home. Method: A total of 86 expectant mothers living in Samburu County (Kenya), all having access to a mobile phone with Safaricom mobile SIM card, were enrolled into the project. Mixed methods research design was used to generate quantitative data on the voucher transactions and qualitative data from telephone interviews on technical usability of the transport voucher. Results: The study demonstrated that the mobile transport voucher was a major driver for pregnant women to access healthcare facilities for skilled delivery. Illiteracy and resource scarcity were the main challenges experienced during implementation. Conclusion: Mobile technology can be successfully used in remote rural settings in Africa for targeting funds and guiding individuals towards better health care. The combination of such technology with communication agents (community health volunteers, ambulance drivers) proved particularly effective.

Use Case OikosNomos.world (ONW), aims to build water taps in the desert, turning sea water into drinking water, by using solar energy to pump sweet water from boreholes, or by converting night time dew to drink. The technology is there. The largest version of a desalination machine, for example, is a 20-foot container with filters (membranes) for reverse osmosis, and solar panels to power it. The machine costs 200,000 to purchase and install. It produces 100,000 liters of clean water per day, using nothing but free and plentiful seawater and sunshine. The water will be sold commercially to parties such as brewers and beverage companies at a premium price, to make SeaBeer, SeaDrink, or SeaJuice. Water will be given away for free to poor populations in the direct vicinity of the tap. They will use their mobile phones to open the tap. It will then release two to five liters of water. This can be repeated as often as required and prevents misuse. Any water produced but not sold will go into fishponds, to be run by the local community. In return, they will provide physical security, e.g. against theft or vandalism, and do simple maintenance worksuch as cleaning the pipes and filters. The ponds themselves are simple, mere holes in the ground of approximately one cubic meter, lined with plastic sheets, and home to 10-15 fish (e.g. catfish, or tilapia). We want to finance this! Not through donations or one-off kindness, but via sustainable financial instruments such as an interest-bearing bond, the DeFi Hunger & Poverty Water Bond. Challenge The challenge is to write an article of maximum 2,000 words that describes a solution to address the use case outline. The best three articles (technical report, methodology, etc), will be submitted to the Blockchain in Healthcare Today Platform Approaches Journal for editorial review and publication at no cost. Final submission date is March 1, 2025. Upload your submission here.

To estimate HIV incidence and prevalence in Windhoek, Namibia and to analyze socio-economic factors related to HIV infection. In 2006/7, baseline surveys were performed with 1,753 private households living in the greater Windhoek area; follow-up visits took place in 2008 and 2009. Face-to-face socio-economic questionnaires were administrated by trained interviewers; biomedical markers were collected by nurses; GPS codes of household residences were recorded. The HIV prevalence in the population (aged>12 years) was 11.8% in 2006/7 and 14.6% in 2009. HIV incidence between 2007 and 2009 was 2.4 per 100 person year (95%CI = 1.9-2.9). HIV incidence and prevalence were higher in female populations. HIV incidence appeared non-associated with any socioeconomic factor, indicating universal risk for the population. For women a positive trend was found between low per-capita consumption and HIV acquisition. A HIV knowledge score was strongly associated with HIV incidence for both men and women. High HIV prevalence and incidence was concentrated in the north-western part of the city, an area with lower HIV knowledge, higher HIV risk perception and lower per-capita consumption. The HIV incidence and prevalence figures do not suggest a declining epidemic in Windhoek. Higher vulnerability of women is recorded, most likely related to economic dependency and increasing transactional sex in Namibia. The lack of relation between HIV incidence and socio-economic factors confirms HIV risks for the overall urban community. Appropriate knowledge is strongly associated to lower HIV incidence and prevalence, underscoring the importance of continuous information and education activities for prevention of infection. Geographical areas were identified that would require prioritized HIV campaigning.

Session Description: An introduction for the novice on what blockchain technology is, where it fits in the healthcare arena, use cases,  and current trends and potential barriers to market.

Session Description: RED FLAGS:  evaluating a product's potential, when and how to use tokens , is an ICO worth consideration, and what is the business model...really...