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Leonard Ncube recently in Hwange

SAFAIDS, a regional information dissemination organisation focusing on sexual and reproductive health, has launched a mobile health application to stimulate health seeking behaviour and social accountability among youths.

The MobiSAfAids application is part of the organisation’s Transforming Lives programme to run from 2019 to 2021 in six Sadc countries; Malawi, Lesotho, South Africa, Swaziland, Zambia and Zimbabwe. SAfAids selected Hwange district for the pilot programme and is partnering Hwange based Buwalo Matalikilo Trust (BMT). 

SAfAids programmes officer Ms Ashley Ngwenya said 21 youths known as champions have been trained to engage their peers using evidence and knowledge gathered.

They will be given smart phones to be used in downloading the application and be able identify health and gender issues in the community.

 “The goal is to improve sexual and reproductive health rights by adolescents and youths within a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) framework by 2021,” she said at a workshop in Hwange.

Ms Ngwenya said the Transforming Lives programme has four pillars namely policy development, policy advocacy, social accountability monitoring, and evidence and knowledge sharing.

She said five key users; youths, service providers, administrator and overseers who include Civic Society Organisation (CSO), District Administrator and SAfAids will use the platform.

“SAfAids strives to use youths and the mobile application in partnership with BMT to track service provision. This is not a policing mechanism but a monitoring application as we’re not fighting anyone,” added Ms Ngwenya.

A health service seeker who visits a health facility and either leaves dissatisfied or satisfied will raise an issue in a ticket which is uploaded on the application. 

Service providers and selected stakeholders will access the application and address the issue which the originator will view and follow on the same platform.

MobiSAfAids will work as a client exit interview and a health seeker can choose to remain anonymous. Adolescents usually struggle to access health care due to a number of reasons some of them policy related and Ms Ngwenya said the application will help stakeholders with information about happenings in and around health centres. 

Every quarter the findings will be used to develop a community scorecard and choose issues to address. Ms Ngwenya said they are working with schools’ health clubs because pupils make up the majority of adolescents who struggle to access health services due to policy and cultural issues among other reasons thereby leading to a low health seeking behaviour.

As a result some sexual and gender based violence issues go unreported. BMT director Mrs Anna Mandizha-Ncube said the application will empower the Hwange community especially youths with knowledge.

Participants drawn from health service stakeholders said Transforming Lives should be integrated into existing Government structures under the Ministry of Health and Child Care and line departments.

The programme will also help motivate research on specific issues that will be raised through the application.-@ncubeleon