Description of Session
In Uganda, malnutrition is adamantly one of the major health problems affecting the general population. The situation is sustained by a multitude of factors. Furthermore, a review of the efficacy (impact at individual level) and effectiveness (impact at population level) of nutrition programs in 2008 found that not only were they ineffective in several contexts, but also, more worryingly, the quality of existing data on nutrition programs was lacking, incomparable and insufficient to support decision making. This review outlined challenges under three key areas including nutrition information that, if addressed, could support improvement in quality and effectiveness of acute malnutrition programming. One of the three key areas was nutrition information which called for need to improve reporting and measurement practices for nutrition programs. Following the afore-mentioned review, Uganda with support from the UK DFID through the World Food Programme undertook a multi-sectoral approach in a bid to alleviate the key challenges including those relating to nutrition information leading to the development of a mobile health innovation called SCOPE-CODA. This session will be a practical demonstration of a digital solution called SCOPE-CODA. It's a mobile-based system that uses Near Field Communication (NFC) Protocol to read and write beneficiary details on a customized Smart Card provided to each registered beneficiary. The system has been implemented in Uganda to support humanitarian food programs with an aim of achieving improved accountability and transparency in implementation of nutrition interventions by replacing paper-based registers, ration cards and reports with a smart card for beneficiaries, a mobile device for health workers and a dashboard for health system managers. This session will demonstrate how the innovation works using custom made NFC devices and smart cards and its linkage to already existing social registries which link to social protection, livelihood services, etc.
