Text Messaging to Check Counterfeit Drug Status

By Dennis D. McDonald

One of the feeds I monitor is provided by MobileActive.org:

MobileActive is a global network of people (and their tools, projects, and resources) focused on the use of mobile phones in civil society. … Mobile phones have been used to mobilize hundreds of thousands of peaceful demonstrators in countries across the world with text messages and brilliant political ringtones. They are being used in environmental campaigns in Argentina, and to advocate for an independent judiciary in India, for support of emigrant and migrant communities in the Philippines, and for disease detection and prevention in Rwanda.

These are just a few examples. An interesting recent story is  Using SMS to Fight Fake Drugs in Ghana. It describes an experimental program to use text messaging to query a remote service in Ghana to determine whether or not a dispensed drug is genuine. The impetus is the high incidence of counterfeit drugs being distributed in developing countries.

Think about services like this the next time you’re waiting impatiently for a Flash file to download.

Comments

[Katrin Verclas]

Dennis -- thanks for the nice mention. We are curious to see how the Ghana project works out and whether it'll scale. It looks promising, but is too early to tell. If you hear of any interesting uses of mobile technology in civil society, do let us know, and thanks again!

All the best, Katrin | MobileActive.org