Health Department authorities have successfully used mobile phone technology to provide timely healthcare to pregnant women and infants in Karnataka.
Mother and Child Tracking System (MCTS), an innovative initiative launched by the Department of Health and Family Welfare in January last year, is aimed at tracking pregnant women throughout their pregnancy period and providing medical services to them as per the guidelines of the World Health Organisation. It also tracks children until they get full immunisation.
The information on healthcare services extended to the mother and the child is sent through an SMS on a specified mobile number. The SMS data is incorporated in the database maintained at the MCTS data centre for monitoring by the taluk health officers.
S. Selva Kumar, Mission Director, National Rural Health Mission, told The Hindu that MCTS had won Innovators' Challenge Award instituted by Rockefeller Foundation and mHealth Alliance.
The award was given away in Washington in December last year, Mr. Kumar said.
He said 7.5 lakh pregnant women and 2.5 lakh children had been registered under the programme since its launch. He said the main aim of MCTS was to reduce maternal and infant mortality rates in the State.
According to sources, the jurisdictional Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANMs) register pregnant women and issue a Thayi card.
Details of pregnant women or children are captured in the card and stored in a computer. The computer operator or the block programme manager at the taluk office uploads details of mother/child (only one time entry) collected from the sub-centres and primary health centres.
ANMs will monitor services given to pregnant women and children and inform the data centre about it by sending an SMS . Once the database gets updated , the medical officer or the taluk health officer gets an alert and they will monitor the services provided to the pregnant woman and the child in their area. They will issue instructions to the ANMs if any service is missed.