AN innovative trial has been launched in Kenya in which mobile phone text messages are used to remind HIV/Aids patients to take their life-saving medication.
In the “WelTel Kenya1” study, three clinics recruited 538 HIV positive patients and they either received weekly SMS messages in addition to a standard course of antiretroviral drugs or were given standard care alone.
The text recipients typically received the discreet message “Mambo”? which is Kiswahili for “How are you?” They were then instructed to reply “Sawa” (“fine”) or “Shida” (“problem”) within 48 hours.
Those who said “Shida” or who failed to respond to the prompt within two days were then called by a nurse.
In the SMS group, the number of patients who achieved 100% adherence to their drug regimen was 12% higher than in the non-SMS group.
In addition, the numbers who were able to achieve suppression of HIV to below detectable levels in their blood — a key benchmark of success — was 9% higher in the SMS group than in the standard-care group.
The technique was also cost-effective because it needed no additional equipment and little human intervention.
Each SMS cost only around five US cents, and the nurses who made the calls were able to send the messages in computerised batches, rather than individually.
Only 3.3% of the prompts required a follow-up. As a result, one nurse could potentially manage 1 000 patients by SMS, and expect to make a follow-up call to only 33 patients per week.
Cost: the SMS system could be a sure-fire winner compared to personal visits by a nurse, the researchers say. It could be less expensive, measured on travel costs alone.
BRIAN ADERO in Nairobi, Kenya
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