Using text messaging as weapon in malaria war

Sophana can now report malaria cases instantaneously (Photo: David Swanson/IRIN)

A village malaria worker administers a simple blood test for malaria in Pailin, considered the epicentre for drug-resistant malaria (Photo: Brendan Brady/IRIN)

TA REACH, 6 September 2011 (IRIN) - Cambodian efforts to contain the spread of malaria have been strengthened by a pilot project using text messaging and web-based technology.

"My work is definitely easier," said Sophana Pich, 41, one of 184 village malaria workers (VMWs) now trained in three provinces (Kampot, Siem Reap and Kampong Cham) since the project launch earlier this year.

She typically diagnoses five to six cases of the often deadly virus each month during the rainy season between May and October.

"Before, it would take a month before this information was reported to the district health level. Now it's instantaneous," the mother-of-three said from her home in Ta Reach, a village of 200 households in Kampot Province, about 150km southwest of Phnom Penh.

Thaksin works the mobile links for his benefit

November 19, 2009
By Kornchanok@nationgroup.com
The Nation

Fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's short messages have been sent to his fans' mobile phones again after a short break.

Thaksin said: "Chai-yo! We can get connected to each other now after [the service] was cut. Tell your friends to press 4552601 and then send to register [to receive Thaksin's messages]" in the SMS sent early yesterday.

The number for registration is new, meaning Thaksin has changed his service provider to manage and get his messages out.

Last time, Thaksin's messages were sent for only two days and then the service became unavailable.

On November 2, he sent a well-wishing message to fans on Loy Kratong Day.

That was the second note sent after he started the new way of communicating with supporters the previous day.

He posted a message on Twitter three days later claiming the government was blocking his SMS notes.

PM's Office Minister Satit Wongnongtaey said the government did not block the service.

"The government has nothing to do with that. It is a contract between the operators and Thaksin. There's no need for the government to block it unless the content is illegal," he said.

But Thaksin posted another message again before he visited Cambodia that the government had threatened the SMS service provider to stop sending his messages. So, he would try a new technology to send SMS notes to supporters within the following week.

Thaksin started promoting his service last month. His fans were asked to send a short message to number 426425 to register for free notes to their mobile phones.

An industry source, who asked not to be named, said two of Thaksin's messages were sent to those who registered, but the third message from Thaksin was blocked by an operator.

The source said a government agency had contacted the operator and asked them to "cooperate" by not distributing his messages.

Although the contract between the service provider, who receives messages from Thaksin and passes them to receivers, has not ended, Thaksin learnt about the problem, and did not send any further notes.

TOT Plc president Varut Suvakorn said he had yet to check on the company's case. However, TOT had to comply with the law and could not provide information that might be a threat to national security or was morally offensive.

Another industry source, who asked not to be named, said the SMS operator who received messages from Thaksin's fans and passed them to the fugitive former PM was a different firm from the one distributing Thaksin's messages.

The company that receives messages from the public for Thaksin had not been contacted by the government.

However, it had suspended the service while waiting for the business contract to be "clarified".

The source also said it was unlikely Thaksin used a new technology to start the service again. But he had changed service providers to get the new messages sent.

According to the two sources, over 100,000 people registered to receive Thaksin's messages.

In the meantime, Thaksin's close aide Noppadon Pattama said Thaksin had been trying to build his ways to connect and keep in touch with supporters.

SMS was expected to be the most popular channel to link with supporters. Thaksin could also receive and sent personal messages in reply.

According to companies' reports, Advanced Info Service had 28.2 million subscribers at the end of September this year. Total Access Communication (DTAC) had 19.3 subscribers, while TrueMove had 15.2 million subscribers at the end of June. In total, there are at least 62.7 million mobile subscribers.

If the government really did block Thaksin's messages, one imagines he would not stop looking for new ways to try to maintain his support.

Australian research helping Angelina Jolie's work in Cambodia

June 19, 2009
Herald Sun (Australia)

AUSTRALIAN researchers are helping Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie improve the lot of Cambodia's farmers.

Work is underway to expand an SMS-based information network developed by the University of Canberra, which provides market updates to ensure remote Cambodian farmers get a fair price for their produce.

While these farmers live in areas which often lack basic infrastructure, Cambodia does have 85 per cent mobile coverage and text messages cost as little as US3 cents.

"We wanted to help farmers access the price of maize or soybeans on demand, so they were in a stronger position to negotiate the sale of their crop," says Dr Robert Fitzgerald.

"Some traders and farmers knew some price information but that was not always shared, so the only way the farmer could find out about the price was to travel to town or ask nearby friends.

"Now farmers can text the agricultural information server and straight away find out about the prices."

Working with the Maddox Jolie-Pitt Foundation (MJP) - named after the Hollywood couple's adopted son from Cambodia - the scheme will be expanded on a trial basis to also offer health and pest warnings and other important information.

Only Zimbabwe and South Africa had higher rates of tuburculosis infection than Cambodia in 2007.

"We need, therefore, to find effective tools to quickly disseminate information to isolated and rural communities," says Stephan Bognar, Executive Director of MJP.

The project, also with involvement from the University of New England, is funded by the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research.

The celebrity couple have also donated $1 million to a UN refugee agency to help Pakistanis displaced by fighting between troops and Taliban militants.

Jolie, the star of 2008 movies Changeling and Wanted, has visited Pakistan three times to witness United Nations relief operations since becoming a "goodwill ambassador" for the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in 2001.

The agency said it was grateful for the donation from Pitt and Jolie, and added that more than 2 million people in Pakistan had been uprooted this year as a result of the conflict in the northwest part of the country.

Most Pakistanis forced from their homes are living in government buildings or with host families, but 260,000 of them are in camps run by UNHCR, the agency said.

The Hollywood power couple, who gave the $1 million through their Jolie-Pitt Foundation, donated $2 million in September to help children in Ethiopia stricken by disease.