Ugandan App for Pain-Free Malaria Test

(l – r) Josiah Kavuma, Simon Lubambo, Joshua Businge and Brian Gitta, otherwise known as team Code 8, have developed a mobile phone app to diagnose malaria. Courtesy: Microsoft.By Amy FallonKAMPALA
, Aug 13 2013 (IPS) In his 21 years Brian Gitta has had malaria too many times to count. And over the years, because of the numerous times he has had to have his blood drawn to test for the disease, he has developed a fear of needles. It is little wonder then that he and three of his fellow computer science students worked hard to develop a mobile phone app that detects malaria – without the use of needles. “I was two or three years old when I first contracted it,” says Gitta, who is studying computer science at Makerere University in Kampala. “It’s very unusual to meet people in Uganda who haven’t had malaria. If you go to a clinic, you might find that 90 percent of patients have it.” Annually an estimated 70,000 to 100,000 Ugandans die from the tropical disease, which is transmitted to humans by mosquitos carrying the malaria parasite. That makes it the country’s biggest killer, according to the NGO Malaria Consortium Uganda. Experts say nearly half (about 42 percent) of Uganda’s 34.5 million people are host to the malaria parasite, although they do not display any signs of being ill.“With this test people may be able to avoid a doctor’s consultation and treat malaria in its early stages before it causes anaemia and brain damage. Once this app comes ou...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - Category: Global & Universal Authors: Tags: Africa Changing Lives: Making Research Real Development & Aid Editors' Choice Featured Headlines Health Poverty & MDGs Regional Categories TerraViva United Nations Women's Health Malaria Malaria Consortium Uganda Mobile Phone App Source Type: news