Zoë Life and Keep A Child Alive, in collaboration with the Qualcomm Wireless Reach Initiative has launched the KidzAlive Talk Tool App. It is an innovative mobile health solution that provides healthcare workers with age-appropriate HIV education for children, adolescents and primary caregivers.
The KidzAlive Talk Tool App provides health workers with support they need to interact with children and caregivers in an age-appropriate way. They use the app to engage children in the animated journey of a frog named Sibusiso as he goes for HIV testing, learns his positive status and understand the importance of adhering to his treatment.
There are many reasons why HIV education for children is compulsory. Unlike adults, children and adolescents have been neglected in the move towards fighting HIV/AIDS in South Africa due to social and structural barriers. Primary caregivers fear getting their children tested because of the possibility of disclosing their HIV-positive results and the stigma of living with HIV. Healthcare workers are often overwhelmed by the difficult task of talking to young children at risk who require counseling and testing. They lack the confidence to converse with these children.
“The KidzAlive Talk Tool App demonstrates a creative and effective way to use mobile technology to improve health services and involve communities in HIV prevention and treatment,” says Antonio Ruiz-Giménez, Jr., Executive Chairman and CEO, at Keep A Child Alive. “We are very excited about partnering with Qualcomm Wireless Reach on this project.”
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In a recent pilot study of the KidzAlive Talk Tool App, 33 healthcare workers at private- and government-healthcare facilities in Gauteng and KwaZulu-Natal trialed the app following in-depth training. “After their training, healthcare workers experienced a 62 percent increase in confidence and competence in providing age-appropriate counselling and care for HIV-exposed and -infected children,” said Dr. Stephanie Thomas, Executive Director, at Zoë-Life. “Primary caregivers participating in the pilot study were more willing to give consent for their children to receive HIV testing and counselling.”
“We believe that advanced mobile technologies have a great role to play in improving access to healthcare services, lowering costs and increasing efficiencies,” said Elizabeth Migwalla, Senior Director of Government Affairs for Africa and the Middle East, Qualcomm International, Inc. “We are proud to collaborate with Zoë-Life and Keep A Child Alive to extend South Africa’s AIDS response to its most vulnerable populations and support the nation’s children in leading healthy lives.”
Qualcomm Wireless Reach brings advanced wireless technologies to underserved communities globally, improving lives with programs that strengthen economic and social development. Since 2006, Wireless Reach has impacted over 13 million beneficiaries.
KidzAlive is a programme focused on addressing childhood chronic diseases in communities by ensuring children with conditions such as HIV, TB and malnutrition are correctly identified, diagnosed and supported. It particularly targets orphans and vulnerable children and aims to build capacity within entities like the Department of Health, Department of Social Development, NGOs and Schools.
Zoë-Life is a non-profit organization focused on bringing wholeness to children, youths and families. Its work revolves around forging pathways to a hopefully future by collectively raising a generation of healthy, productive and fulfilled individuals. It is the sub-grantee of Keep A Child Alive, founded in 2003 by AIDS activist Leigh Blake and Grammy Award-winner Alicia Keys to get life-saving medication to children dying of AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa.
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