OLPC Tanzania

About OLPC Tanzania

More than 35 million HIV-infected people most of which are women and children live in the developing world, yet it is estimated that only one in ten persons infected with HIV has been tested and knows his/her HIV status. The United Republic of Tanzania, located in Southeastern Africa, on the coast of the Indian Ocean is home to a population of 38,329,000 . Per capita income is estimated to be at about $350 a year, thus Tanzania is considered one of the poorest countries in the world. HIV infection has reached epidemic proportions in Tanzania, and the country is currently one of the most affected countries of the sub Saharan African region with an estimated 1.3 million adults and children living with HIV/AIDS. Effective antiretroviral therapy (ART) for HIV has been available in Tanzania for more than a decade. However, it is estimated that less than 20% of all the infected individuals in Tanzania are currently receiving treatment, the most affected persons are living in rural and hard to reach communities.

• • OLPC Tanzania is proud to announce OLPC partnership with The East African Community (EAC).

According to the Memorandum of Understanding signed between the EAC and OLPC in Kampala, Uganda, the two organisations agreed to work together to leverage the advantages of the laptops in transforming primary school education and to promote strategies for better access to laptops and connectivity– especially for the region’s underprivileged children. The 2010 partnership between One Laptop per Child (OLPC) and the East African Community (EAC) aims to deliver 30 million laptops in the region, including areas where OLPC Tanzania, operates by 2015.

Next in line for deployment

Suggestions: The town of Mbola, one of the Millennium Villages.--SvenAERTS 02:07, 29 May 2012 (UTC)

OLPC XO HIV/AIDS Education, Diagnostics, and Treatment

The pilot program will distribute 30 educational laptops to rural clinicians across Tanzania to conduct HIV diagnostics using microfluidic technology developed in BAMM Labs, lead HIV preventative education workshops in their communities, and track local antiretroviral drug distribution. This project is a collaboration between BAMM Labs at Harvard-MIT Health Science and Technology, Healthnovations International, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center, and Kiwakkuki, a non-governmental organization in Tanzania that was created in 1990 to raise awareness of HIV/AIDS in the Kilimanjaro region of Tanzania. The goal of the project is to empower HIV/AIDS victims in the region to access information about the causes and consequences of HIV/AIDS and to assist their communities in combating HIV/AIDS with access to primary healthcare, education, counseling, emotional support, and medical care.

Micro-Health Insurance Program

We will also implement a microinsurance program in the clinics. This program will function with the community members earning "health points", allocated and redeemable only by the clinician or healthcare workers. Individuals living in these rural areas will earn health points by showing a commitment to their health. These health points would then allow the patients to receive preferential access to limited resources available at the clinics including antiretroviral drugs (ARVs) and formula milk for infants of HIV-infected women. It is our hope that this microinsurance program will incentivize people to prioritize their health and actively utilize the resources of the clinics.

Institutions

• One Laptop per Child (OLPC)
• East African Community
• Healthnovations International
• Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Harvard University
• Harvard-MIT Health Science and Technology
• Kilimanjaro Clinical Research Institute, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center

Team

• Asad Moten, OLPC Tanzania Project Leader
• Utkan Demirci, Harvard Medical School, Harvard-MIT Health Science and Technology
• Jeffrey Blander, Harvard School of Public Health
• Adam Holt, One Laptop per Child (OLPC) Health
• Aliasgher Sajan, Healthnovations Jaffrey Zahanati (Moshi, Tanzania)
• Dominic Mosha, Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Center

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Contact us

Send an email to Healthnovations International if you want to find out more or if you are interested in making contributions to our initiatives info@healthnovations.org