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July 23, 2013 07:00 am -07

This African Smart Card Helps Catch Disease Outbreaks

Smartcare-card

LUSAKA, Zambia — Just as any good community healthcare manager should, Ignicious Bulongo has his eyes peeled for disease outbreaks from his post at the Ng'ombe Integrated HIV/TB Clinic, located in the Zambian capital

The facility provides primary care to nearly 50,000 people, many of whom, Bulongo says, live in poverty, employed as domestic workers and bus drivers. Environmental and sanitation conditions are less than ideal, so catching disease outbreaks early on is crucial for protecting the community's health.

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The 2010 introduction of the SmartCare system, an electronic health record system developed by Zambia's Ministry of Health and the U.S. Center for Disease Control, has helped make Bulongo's job easier. Instead of holding patients accountable for paper "exercise books" documenting their medical histories, the details of individuals' diagnoses and treatments can now be stored on a smart card they hold in their wallets, as well as locally at their health clinic and in the larger SmartCare network.

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Original Link: http://feeds.mashable.com/~r/Mashable/~3/M1Y9b5Yi3vI/

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