To improve the health of mothers and newborns, The Government of Myanmar has launched a project to provide material support to cover the nutritional and health needs of this group in poor environments. Using simple and low-cost digital solutions that can be accessed from any phone and anywhere.
The World Health Organization (WHO) views low global maternal and neonatal mortality rates as one of the most important indicators of the success of its work. Therefore, you keep preparing accurate annual records and reports that document them, Governments are looking for the right investments that can alleviate the burden of poverty and disease.
In the Republic of Myanmar, It is a low-income Asian country, The government is unable to provide basic services and infrastructure and achieve a steady pace of human development. Because health is part of this broad system, This reality has far-reaching implications, It robs Myanmar newborns of 53% of their future productivity compared to those with full health and education. This is confirmed by the Human Capital Index, taking into account the health and nutrition problems of women and children, It is a challenge that the Government of Myanmar has not been able to meet, Despite its success in achieving the Millennium Development Goals in eliminating tuberculosis, malaria and HIV.
The Government of Myanmar seeks a new type of digital governance, and the modernization of its basic services, Taking advantage of the spread of mobile phones, whose number of users increased from 4.8% in 2010 to 82% in 2017, Especially since 72% of them use modern smartphones.
This is the fact on which the Ministry of Social Welfare has built its project aimed at improving the nutritional outcomes of mothers and their children during the first thousand days of life of newborns. Having received support from the World Bank, Launched the Cash Transfer Project to promote hygiene, nutrition and health practices and bridge the technology gap exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The project mainly targeted pregnant mothers and children under the age of two, This group was suffering because applications for financial support were rejected for incompleteness. Each beneficiary mother receives $10 per month and an additional payment every 3 months.
Preparation for the project began with a focus on overcoming obstacles, The task force mapped stakeholders and defined the scope and objectives of the intervention, After conducting field visits and holding meetings with regional officials such as the Prime Minister, and officials of the local offices of the Ministry of Public Administration, local authorities in different cities and towns, and staff working in rural health clinics and health centres.
The project team consisted of IT consultants, They have developed an open-source application to register and ensure that beneficiaries of cash transfers are registered. This application is linked to a dashboard to review and validate data, screen, accept or reject requests for financial support. It is available to employees of the Ministry and its departments of different job levels and geographical locations.
Programmatically The team used the ODK data collection system, It enables users to fill out forms and investments offline and send data to the central server as soon as the network is available. It also uses simple modular tables that are easy for the average user to work with. In these tables, The woman or one of her relatives enters her basic identifying information such as name, date of birth, mother tongue, contact information, date and period of pregnancy, as well as photos and geographical location, The application uploads this data to cloud servers that meet the data security, cost and technical capabilities requirements of the local government, And in a way that eliminates traditional paper processes.
The team was keen to achieve the sustainability of the model, use the available digital infrastructure, and adopt an iterative design that focuses on the beneficiaries, by collecting their comments and observations directly, Which were pivotal inputs in determining the optimal form of service provided, Where most of the beneficiary women were able to choose the most appropriate uses of support, They have chosen food and healthcare.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, This solution allowed more than 290,000 mothers and children to be identified and registered. While saving the cost of developing various programs, And without imposing any additional cost or technical requirements on beneficiaries or health service providers. These technical tools have also simplified the processes of registering citizens and coordinating and sharing their information. It contributed to reducing information gaps and facilitating monitoring and evaluation.
The amount of support will meet many of the needs, Especially for people living in rural areas that have been severely affected by the pandemic, This is essential for the women of those regions, who will be in a better economic position to reduce the burden of social discrimination and enable them to care for their children and follow healthy nutrition practices. Figures show that infants with an acceptable diet in Myanmar rose from 9.9% to 41.7%.
The project opened wide horizons for the use of technology in government work, He proved that the low price of the technology does not mean its low usefulness, that less complex digital tools are most effective in projects aimed at the public, He also stressed the importance of the preparatory phase, conducting tests and troubleshooting.
These low-cost digital solutions will support government digital transformation to increase efficiency in public service delivery. Even in the poorest environments.
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