TEXT4LIFE PROJECT

Text4Life Project: A mobile technology to address GBV and other health and social issues in rural Nigeria

In 2017, the research team at the Women’s Health and Action Research Centre (WHARC) in Nigeria, led by Professor Friday Okonofua, launched a comprehensive study in partnership with national and international collaborators. Funded by the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the West African Health Organization, this initiative focused on formative, intervention, and implementation research to develop innovations and generate evidence aimed at improving women’s access to skilled pregnancy care in rural Primary Health Centers (PHCs).

In collaboration with women, community leaders, and policymakers, using community-based participatory research techniques, Text4Life, a RapidSMS system, was developed to respond to the difficulty faced by women in reaching PHCs when they experience pregnancy complications, thereby improving their access to skilled healthcare.

In 2020, the UNFPA partnered with WHARC to make use of the Text4life intervention to address COVID-19 emergencies, Gender-based Violence and other health and social issues. To date, WHARC still collaborates with the UNFPA to ensure the optimization of this service.

HOW IT WORKS

References

  1. Okonofua, F., Ntoimo, L., Johnson, E. et al. Texting for life: a mobile phone application to connect pregnant women with emergency transport and obstetric care in rural Nigeria. BMC Pregnancy Childbirth 23, 139 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12884-023-05424-9
  2. Okonofua, F., Adelekan, B., Goldson, E., Abubakar, Z., Mueller, U., Alayande, A., … Yaya, S. (2024). Applying Mobile Technology to Address Gender-Based Violence in Rural Nigeria: Experiences and Perceptions of Users and Stakeholders. Health Systems & Reform, 10(2). https://doi.org/10.1080/23288604.2024.2389569