The SMS-based system used to advise people about Ebola in Sierra Leone is set to launch across seven additional West African nations. These countries include: Benin, Togo, Ghana, Mali, Guinea-Bissau, Gambia and Burkina Faso. According to the BBC, the system will allow the Red Cross and Red Crescent to send text messages to every switched-on handset in certain areas.
In Sierra Leone, the system has been sending out 2 million messages per month, providing information about Ebola. Tera’s operators can send millions of SPAM-like messages without having access to specific phone numbers. The IFRC has, however, taken steps to ensure Tera appears as “network friendly” as possible. Individual subscribers can opt out of receiving the texts, and operators can apply their own exclusion lists.
According to the BBC, the Tera SMS text system was developed by the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and Trilogy International Partners, a mobile telecommunications specialist. It is a two way communication between disaster affected people and aid agencies, and was originally used to help combat cholera in Haiti.
In recent news, following new cases of the Ebola virus in Spain, researchers are looking to Nigeria’s utilisation of 21st Century technology to study exactly how Africa’s most populous country was able to contain the deadly disease. The full story can be found here.
Darryl Linington
