Millicom yesterday announced that it has joined the GSMA’s cross-ecosystem Pan-African mHealth initiative (PAMI) which is designed to connect people with the mobile industry and health services in eleven countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, including the Tigo operations in Ghana, Rwanda and Tanzania.
PAMI aims to develop commercially sustainable and scalable mHealth services that meet public health needs. The primary objective is to offer relevant services to women and children, with a particular focus on nutrition.
Millicom will work closely with the GSMA and other partners in the initiative to provide mobile access to affordable and reliable healthcare information for its customers.
Commenting on the partnership, Millicom’s EVP for External Affairs Rachel Samrén said: “Millicom always strives to offer first-class mobile technology and digital services but also to provide convenience in people’s lives – whether through existing offers like mobile financial services or by enabling customers to learn English or now to benefit from mobile health services. This partnership with the GMSA aims to make much needed healthcare services more accessible and affordable for our customers.”
“The GSMA is working with mobile operators across Africa to provide vulnerable women and children with free access to a suite of basic health and nutrition services, delivered through a single consolidated access point on their mobile phones,” said Tom Phillips, Chief Regulatory Officer, GSMA. “The GSMA is delighted that Millicom has joined the initiative to work together to deliver solutions that positively impact on the lives of both consumers and health workers and that deliver public health needs.”
With its partners, Tigo operations will aim to create a strong relationship between other mobile and health stakeholders and use the ubiquity of its mobile technology and its capabilities to benefit health providers and patients.
