May 11, 2020 (PPI-OT)

Following is the text of press release issued by Aga Khan University (AKU)

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The University's mobile health application and web portal, Hayat, will be scaled up to 56 sites in Pakistan and Afghanistan after receiving an additional CAD$ 1 million in funding from Grand Challenges Canada and the Aga Khan Foundation Canada.

Hayat, which means life in Urdu and Dari, is being implemented in partnership with the federal and provincial governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and aims to strengthen the two countries' healthcare systems by enhancing key immunisation and maternal and child health indicators.

Hayat's mobile application allows community health workers in the two countries to log details of the services provided during field visits, track patients and raise awareness in the field. The web portal enables health care supervisors and government officials to access essential information in real-time and to conveniently track and monitor field activities and health workers, improving the health system's transparency and accountability.

Hayat's scale-up will see mother and child health services extended to 56 sites from the current 8. Field staff will use Hayat to enter key details of maternal wellbeing during antenatal and postnatal visits. Postnatal visits will also see data collected on a child's height and weight gain to ensure that their growth is on track.

Immunisation services will continue to be monitored across all 56 sites but Hayat's information sharing capabilities will now enable lady health workers to highlight new child births to immunisation staff. This will ensure vaccinations proceed on schedule, a key target under goal 3 of the UN Sustainable Development Goals, and represents a novel and user-friendly form of communication between lady health workers and immunisation staff.

New modules have also been added for supervisory staff in the lady health worker and immunisation teams to enable management to verify data entered into the application.

"Hayat has effectively demonstrated the immense potential of digital health interventions in strengthening health systems, creating awareness in communities and capacity building of health workers in low-and-middle-income countries," said Saleem Sayani, director of the Aga Khan Development Network's Digital Health Resource Centre and the project's principal investigator. "We're excited to explore the effects of strengthened governance and transparency across different tiers of management in these health systems and their resulting impact on health outcomes."

Hayat is scheduled to be integrated within each country's national/provincial health delivery systems after the project's completion in December 2020. Dr Shehla Zaidi, associate professor in community health sciences at Aga Khan University, is leading the evaluation of the project.

For more information, contact:Media ExecutiveDepartment of Public AffairsAga Khan University (AKU)Stadium Road, KarachiTel: +92-21-34930051Fax: +92-21-34934294, +92-21-34932095Cell: +92-301-8258028Email: rasool.sarang@aku.edu, public.affairs@aku.eduWebsite: www.aku.edu

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© Pakistan Press International, source Asianet-Pakistan