Tuberculosis (TB) is a communicable disease spread by tiny airborne particles that are expelled when a person with the disease coughs or sneezes. Botswana has had one of the highest TB notification rates in the world since 2000, mainly as a result of increasing rate of HIV prevalence in the country. People at a high risk of contracting TB are close contacts to a person who already has the disease. It is therefore important that after being diagnosed with TB, all close contacts of the affected patient are traced and interviewed to decide whether they need to be tested for the disease or not, so as to combat the spread of TB. This paper explores the issues involved in the design of a mobile phone-based application for TB contact tracing in Botswana. Problems with the current paper-based method are discussed, and a design and architecture of a mobile phone-based Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) platform is presented.

In this paper we present development of a mobile-based Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD) system that will be used to screen people who have had contact with an infectious TB patient. The USSD-based system prototype is implemented using a simulator as a prelude to actual development. USSD technology allows interactivity between the system and the contact through session-based messaging. Since access to the USSD system is only through service providers, we chose to use an open-source simulator, the mchoice simulator, to develop a prototype in order to identify potential issues that may arise when using the system; determine usability and acceptability of the system by users, and to elicit further requirements for future development efforts. The paper presents the results of usability goal tests of effectiveness, efficiency and satisfaction on the simulated system, together with interesting observations by users that will serve as important pointers in finalizing the requirements of the final system.

The government of Botswana offers free weighing, immunization, growth and development monitoring to all infants from birth until five years. Infant are issued Child Welfare Cards for data collection. This card has to be brought to a health facility whenever the infant is brought in for weighing, immunization or any other health services. The guardian is responsible for the safe keeping of the card, and the data collected. In addition to the usual paper-based system problems, there is no system in place to manage this process and the data collected. This paper presents a prototype mobile application with a database backend to manage such a process. The system has three components; a data collection component, an analysis component, and interactive charts (based on WHO Child Growth Standards 2006) for parents to visualize growth of their kids. We explore different technology stacks suitable to ensure security, confidentiality and reliability, as well as addressing infrastructure constraints especially in rural areas. Our initial results show that this system is feasible and offers a convenient data collection and processing tool for infant growth and development monitoring in Botswana. This system can work in remote areas with poor internet connectivity, is easy to use, and it enhances centralized child weight data collection. The collected data could be used for national decision making. In addition it is aligned to the Botswana National Egovernment strategy 2011-2016 whose mission is to provide universal access to services through the use of strategies and technologies for efficient and effective delivery.