Mobile IMCI (AIEPI Movil): SMS-based Continuing Education for Health

DataDyne.org, in conjunction with the Ministry of Health in Peru, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO/OPS), Adventist Development and Relief Organization (ADRA) and the Zoltner Consulting Group, are using text messages to support the important Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI, in Spanish AIEPI) program of the WHO and Pan American Health Organization.

Peru is a leading implementer in South America of this lifesaving clinical and community health practice, and the first to attempt to boost training and retention of information using text messaging.

Using MIP technology, DataDyne is working with the Ministry to send text messages to two groups, nurses and community health workers, who have been recently trained in IMCI by PAHO/OPS and ADRA. The messages are written and designed by Dr. Carlos Urbano, a Peruvian ICMI specialist and pediatrician (Dr. Urbano is a well-known consultant and former health ministry officer working in the health sector in Peru whose area of expertise is

infant health in general and IMCI training and practices in specific, and who is currently affiliated with The National Institute for Child Health). (pagina del ministerio, en español)

The messages being sent will aid health workers in understanding and retaining key information for treating sick children.Pre- and post-tests at various times throughout the project will determine the level of retention in the group receiving text messages and the control group who are not. 

This groundbreaking research is funded by the United Nations Foundation.