HHNB is thrilled to partner with the GIZ to pilot a first-of-its-kind initiative consisting in promoting public health through the use of mobile technology.
The initiative consists in establishing a Mobile platform 4 M-Health that seeks to improve antenatal care (ANC) attendance among pregnant women in rural health settings of Burundi and Rwanda. It is a digital platform that will enable health care providers to track and remind pregnant women for ANC attendance and to provide useful real time information needed for maternal health education. Nurses, Community Health Workers (CHWs), and pregnant women will use the digital platform for pregnancy monitoring and information sharing. By improving maternal and child health outcomes in Burundi and Rwanda, the digital platform promotes maternal health as enshrined in the EAC 5th Development Strategy and Treaty for the Establishment of the Community.

Why doing this now? or what is the rationale behind?

Despite all governments' efforts, still prevail high rates of maternal and neonatal deaths and complications including HIV mother-to-baby transmission happening in most of rural and hard-to-reach settings in Burundi, Rwanda, and other EAC Partner States (Duley, 1992, Doumbo et al., 2016, Virgo et al., 2017). In fact, maternal and neonatal deaths and complications including vertical HIV transmission are avoidable by a comprehensive prenatal care (Mrisho et al., 2009, Brabin et al., 1998, Lincetto et al., 2006). However, according to the 2015 WHO report, only 23% of pregnant women attended at least one ANC in WHO Africa Region.

For instance, WHO reported an approximate 303,000 mothers who died due to pregnancy or childbirth-related complications in 2015. In the same report, an approximated 6 million of under 5 years children died in 2015, and 45% of them died within their 28 days of life (WHO, 2015).
In Burundi, 3,400 pregnant women and 12,921 neonates died in 2016. Most importantly, maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality is doubling in rural areas compared with urban settings of Burundi (WHO, 2011).

The overall and the long-term project's aim is to avoid maternal and neonatal deaths and complications including HIV vertical transmission. This will be achieved by ensuring that antenatal care is adequately provided to all pregnant women in rural and hard-to-reach settings in the two countries and late to the rest of the East African Community Partner States.

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