Limiting the Spread of Dengue with Mobile Technology

By InSTEDD Global | Dec 15, 2016 | Blog, Cambodia

Controlling dengue requires timely reporting from the affected community. Simply put, if mosquito larvae can be controlled, dengue can be controlled.

The Laos Department of Communicable Diseases Control (DCDC), Skoll Global Threats Fund (SGTF) and InSTEDD iLab Southeast Asia have begun an initiative to combat the spread of dengue through the use of mobile technology.

In 2014, an Epidemiology Hackathon (epihack) was conducted to address dengue control in Laos. After days of collaboration between coding experts and epidemiologists, several technological prototypes emerged. With the continued support from SGTF, InSTEDD iLab Southeast Asia supported the further development of Larvae Control Surveys to support the Laos DCDC to pilot a mobile solution with all districts in the Vientiane capital.

On November 24-26, 2016, an additional mobile solution for responding to the threat of Dengue Fever in Laos was launched.

This time, nine districts in the Vientiane capital were trained on how to use a phone application to submit larvae survey data. CMPE, Malaria Station, and the Vientiane health capital department were trained to use a web-based mapping application to collect and aggregate submitted phone data from various districts.

Training on how to use a phone application to submit larvae survey data

The training was led by DCDC staff, and local Laos developers, with the support from the iLab Southeast Asia team. During the two-day training event, participants from nine districts – staff Ministry of Health, DCDC, WHO, Laos Developers and ETL mobile operators – were introduced to this mobile application, which enables the ministry of health to collect data on Dengue Larvae more efficiently, and in a timely manner.

Vientiane, the capital city of Laos will be the first deployment, with four main objectives:

Strengthen the capability to collect and report larvae in a timely manner

2. Enhance the awareness on dengue and larvae control to the public

3. Strengthen dengue control on a district and provincial level sustainably

4. Enhance the capacity of human resources in terms of larvae reporting and control nationwide

ETL, a leading mobile operator in Laos, jointly supports the project by providing free mobile data internet to districts for reporting use. This contribution enables long term sustainability for the deployment of this mobile solution in Laos for dengue control.

Ms. Channe Suy Lan, Regional Lead of the iLab Southeast Asia said, “I believe the Dengue Larvae Application is a very useful system to support MoH in fast data collection and getting fast response to the Dengue epidemic in the future. The success of dengue control in Laos will set a great example for other countries in the Mekong region”

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Announcement

InSTEDD would like to express our sincere appreciation to all of our partners for the years of exceptional collaboration with the InSTEDD iLab Southeast Asia and for your contribution to its success in providing important solutions for social good.

Our original vision when we established the iLabSEA was that it would ultimately become a separate entity, locally owned and operated, in a model that provides social benefit and fits within the local economy. After 13 years of service to our local community, we are thrilled to announce that InSTEDD has closed our iLabSEA and the team from the LabSEA has now established an independent social enterprise organization, Kawsang.

We are confident that Kawsang will continue to provide the excellent service that has become their leadership team’s standard.

We are excited to have you join us in celebrating the success of realizing our vision for the iLabSEA and we very much appreciate your participation in this success and continued collaboration with Kawsang.