Orange Healthcare is to join the mHealth Alliance, a partnership which leverages rapid advances in mobile technology to improve public health, healthcare systems and patient care in the developing world. Orange Healthcare will begin working with the mHealth Alliance on projects in West Africa. 
We welcome this partnership with the mHealth Alliance to explore how we can leverage Oranges assets and expertise to deliver health solutions in West Africa, says of Orange Healthcare Executive Vice President, Thierry Zylberberg. The development of health solutions through mobile devices is revolutionizing healthcare delivery in developing countries. Orange Healthcare is already working on projects in Africa that are using mobiles to improve prevention efforts, patient care, treatment support and health data collection. Together, we will explore activities with appropriate local partners to deliver sustainable and scalable mHealth solutions in West Africa.
The mHealth Alliance was launched by the United Nations Foundation, Vodafone Foundation and Rockefeller Foundation at the February 2009 Mobile World Congress, and builds off these Foundations investments in innovative technologies to support global health goals. It acts as an umbrella organization to complement, draw together and expand upon the mobile health initiatives of multiple organizations around the world.
Orange has mobile networks in several African countries. The Orange Group and its local subsidiaries, alongside non-governmental organizations and health partners, has already started a number of mobile health projects, such as Mobinil and Orange Botswana, which supports teledermatology initiatives. Other projects are under consideration in Kenya, Senegal, Burkina-Faso and Mali, and will be developed within the framework of the mHealth Alliance.
In West Africa and other parts of the developing world, there is still much work to be done to meet the UN Millennium Development Goals for global health, including reducing child mortality, improving maternal health and combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases, says mHealth Alliance Executive Director, David Aylward. Wireless technologies have an important role to play in delivering health solutions that support these goals, not least extending the reach of health services to populations living in remote areas and where there are shortages of medical professionals.