Cell phones used to combat polio in Kenya

The application is called EpiSurveyor and can be downloaded onto any handheld device. It was introduced by Kenyan health officials after Somalian refugees re-introduced polio to the country, being responsible for the first case in nearly 20 years.

The programme logs patient's symptoms and any treatment they receive. Kenyan health workers modified the survey forms used by EpiSurveyor to track an emergency vaccination campaign and managed to stop a potential epidemic in its tracks.

EpiSurveyor has been funded by the United Nations and Vodafone Foundation Technology Partnership, which is using strategic technology programmes to strengthen UN humanitarian efforts worldwide. It is free to use and is run on an open-source basis. The trial in Kenya has been so successful that this week the World Health Organisation has announced that it is expanding the project to another 20 countries in Africa.