Nigeria Content Online

Ever
since the introduction of Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM)
in 2001 in Nigeria, mobile phones have become ubiquitous that they
permeate every area of people’s lives.
But
the latest innovation is a novel one facilitated in South Africa by
Nokia, a global mobile phone manufacturer renowned for its user
friendly phones. Phone technology will become more innovative as
reported in the African Business August/September edition.
“A
South African-designed mobile application for smartphones is diagnosing
ailments via mobile technology aided by a panel of doctors,” the report
said.
It
was conceived by 20 four Labs’ Werner Erasmus, who won the first
position in Nokia’s Calling All Innovators Africa 2009 competition with
a prize money of $85, 000. The mobile application, called ‘Afridoctor’,
was designed as an alternative information service for people who have
limited access to health care.

Only smartphones can do this
An
engineer, Olusola Teniola, while commending this innovation, however,
expressed concern about the kind of phones that can perform such
serious operation.
In
an email, the chief operating officer of Phase3 Telecoms Ltd. said,
“The ability to identify innovative solutions that address local
problems is a probable cause for this clever application that can
reside on an open-platform operating system. Unfortunately, this is
limited to high end smart phones running a specific release of the
Symbian operating system.
“Any
application like this becomes so important, in the sense that it helps
the average man on the street to do what he wants to do in a most
convenient manner,” added Mr Teniola.
Chandra
Prakash, a radiologist at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital
(LASUTH), Ikeja, Lagos, also commended the innovation.
“I
think this is a good idea, as it is a way of communication between
patients and doctors; but there are limitations,” Mr Prakash said.
“For
instance, it affects the privacy of the doctor and his duties at
hospitals and the service would not be good for some emergency cases,
where the patients would have to come in personally to see the doctors
and needs immediate attention.
“The
benefit is that it would definitely save the patients’ time waiting in
the hospital for minor routine cases and allow the doctors to focus on
important cases. Appointment to see a doctor might take a long time, so
that can be narrowed down through the use of this application,” added
Mr Prakash.
Rasaq
Giwa-Osagie, an estate agent and a Nokia mobile phone user, equally
commended it saying, “The innovation is a brilliant idea, but it is not
exactly better than going to the hospital for diagnosis. But it serves
as a substitute way for busy individuals to access their health
issues.”
Unfortunately,
no Nokia official in Nigeria was willing to comment on the application
or whether there is a possibility that it would be available in Nigeria
in the future.