Africa-Press – Tanzania. DODOMA region has launched m-mama, a programme that uses mobile technology to connect pregnant women to emergency transport.
Speaking during the launch, Vodafone Foundation’s m-mama Director, Dolorosa Duncan said the program was co-created by Vodacom Tanzania Foundation, Vodafone Foundation and the government and was successfully piloted in six districts including Shinyanga and Sengerema.
She said it was initially the program was planned for 15 regions but following an increase in funding it will be rolled out in 26 regions in the country.
“We are grateful for the cooperation shown by regional officials on this launch and expect successful implementation within the given time frame” she said.
On her part, the Dodoma Regional Commissioner, Rosemary Senyamule, thanked Vodafone for the collaboration aimed at saving lives of women in the region and the nation at large.
She said the effort is in line with the government’s effort to reduce maternal death as directed by President Samia Suluhu Hassan.
The RC expressed optimism that from the reported success in Shinyanga, the programme will help bring the needed changes in Dodoma region.
“Urgent transport for expectant mothers and newborns is an important service that helps save lives and this initiation will help save lives too” she said.
Regional Administrative Secretary, Dr Fatma Mganga noted that the programme launched in Dodoma in April, 2022 is real stakeholders’ initiatives to improve maternal services.
She said, “If transport is well taken care of, it helps save lives, especially of expectant women and children”. She thanked Vodafone for the launch of the programme in the region, saying Dodoma cannot lag behind in such initiatives.
At the core of m-mama is a cost-effective emergency transport system to significantly reduce maternal mortality in areas with limited or inefficient ambulance services.
The system uses a network of local taxi drivers to act as ‘taxi ambulances’ in areas where ambulances are rarely available:
When the patient makes a free call to a 24/7 dispatch centre, a call handler assesses the patient’s condition using the m-mama app, which indicates whether the patient needs transferring to a health facility.
If healthcare is required, the nearest taxi ambulance driver is identified on the m-mama app and receives a request to take the woman to the closest health facility.
On safe arrival, the driver is paid instantly for the journey via M-Pesa (Vodacom’s mobile money transfer system).
The development comes at a time when records show that the region recorded 63 maternal deaths between January and August, 2022. It has managed to reduce the deaths to 74/100,000 in 2021, down from 102/100,000 in 2020.
The m-mama uses mobile technology to connect pregnant women to care when they need it the most, and working to reduce rates of maternal mortality, identified as the number one health challenge by the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.
The mobile service has been developed by Vodacom Tanzania Foundation and Vodafone Foundation that provides emergency transport for pregnant and postpartum women.
The m-mama programme aims to help pregnant women receive vital medical assistance as quickly as possible, especially in rural areas where ambulances are rarely available. Shinyanga is one of the regions in Tanzania that has managed to scale down the number of maternal deaths since when it was incepted in 2017.
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