In an attempt to improve patient monitoring and further decrease the treatment default rate, Operation ASHA has partnered with the Microsoft Research to develop biometric technology. This low-cost technology tracks TB patients’ compliance with their treatment regimens. When a patient initially registers at a treatment centre, his or her fingerprint is recorded on a biometric device. Each time that patient revisits the DOTS centre to take his or her medication an electronic record is created when their fingerprint is scanned. At the end of each day, a list is generated and reviewed by a supervisor. Those counselors with patients who missed a dose are notified and given 24 hours to administer the treatment. Missed doses can have catastrophic consequences. Missing medication can lead to Multidrug resistant TB (MDR-TB) and extensively drug resistant TB (XDR-TB), which are global concerns. Operation ASHA reduces drug resistance in our patients by ensuring that they take their treatment regularly for the full 6 – 9 months.Poor ID management costs lives and increases human misery. Here's just one of the many ways biometrics helps.
Our biometric technology is currently used in 17 centers in the heart of Delhi’s urban slums, and more than 1300 patients have been registered on the biometrics. The precise tracking and monitoring that can be achieved with biometrics has reduced our default rate to much less than 3% – a number previously considered impossible to achieve in slum areas.
Earlier post on Operation ASHA
H/T @M2SYS
