Date: 1 December 2009
Source: IRIN PlusNews
Before cell phone and internet technology were introduced to Amensie village in south-central Ghana, some 20 women died in childbirth each year, according to district nurse Owusu. In 2008 none did. Amensie is part of a cluster of villages called Bonsaaso which is part of the Millennium Villages project, in which villages receive assistance in reaching the Millennium Development Goals. Since 2006 development partners have built and improved Bonsaaso's schools and health clinics and provided an ambulance to the nearest district hospital, 12km away. Mobile handset producer Ericsson teamed with mobile telecommunications firm Zain to install internet access and mobile phone coverage. They distributed free handsets to health workers and sold handsets to villagers for US$10. Women can now communicate when they need an ambulance. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) firms are increasingly stepping in to address poverty-related problems. In Ghana's Upper East Region, the Grameen Bank's Applications Laboratory provided affordable handsets to pregnant women who used them to receive answers to common ante- and post-natal questions as well as reminders about check-ups or vaccinations.
