August 21, 2011

'The Computing Folks, Once We're Pointed at the Right Problem, We Can Solve It'

5 Minutes With a Computer Scientist Who Developed Cellphones to Monitor Health Care in Ghana 1

Allison Stone, Columbia U.

A community health officer at a monthly child-welfare clinic in Ghana uses a cellphone to record information.

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close 5 Minutes With a Computer Scientist Who Developed Cellphones to Monitor Health Care in Ghana 1

Allison Stone, Columbia U.

A community health officer at a monthly child-welfare clinic in Ghana uses a cellphone to record information.

By Karin Fischer

Bruce B. MacLeod proves that cellphones can be a lifeline. The University of Southern Maine computer scientist and his research partner, James F. Phillips, a professor of public health at Columbia University, developed a system that uses cellphone technology to deliver important health-care messages to pregnant women and new mothers in Ghana and to help nurses monitor patients' needs. An edited version of his conversation about the project with The Chronicle appears below.