Hope Phones: Your Old Cell Phone Can Make a Difference

If you've been eyeing that new mobile toy, here's another incentive to go for it: thanks to a new mobile health initiative, instead of simply discarding your old cell phone, you can now put it to use as a valuable tool in the fight against HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis in the developing world.

At the helm of this initiative, aptly called Hope Phones, is FrontlineSMS: Medic, a nonprofit organization advancing rural healthcare networks in the developing world through the implementation of sustainable, appropriate technologies delivered through mobile phones. Its first pilot project distributed cell phones to community health workers in 100 rural villages in Malawi, saving thousands of dollars in travel and hospital costs and doubling the number of patients treated for tuberculosis in the catchment area. (Learn more about FrontlineSMS: Medic via this video featured on CNN last week.)

Hope Phones is a nationwide mobile phone collection campaign supporting mHealth programs at medical clinics in over 30 countries. The campaign will make use of nearly 450,000 cell phones discarded every day in the US to provide phones for clinics and healthcare workers in the developing world.

HopePhones.org allows donors to print a free shipping label and send their old phone in to The Wireless Source, a global leader in wireless device recycling. The phone’s value allows FrontlineSMS:Medic to purchase usable, recycled cell phones for healthcare workers.

“Hope Phones lets you give your old cell phone new life on the frontline of global health. That’s powerful,” said Josh Nesbit, Executive Director of FrontlineSMS:Medic. “Just one, old blackberry will allow us to purchase 3-5 cell phones for healthcare workers, bringing another 250 families onto the health grid via SMS. Old phones can help save lives.”

How can you help?

1. Visit www.HopePhones.org and donate your old phones.
2. Spread the word!
• Email your friends, family, classmates and coworkers.
• Post on Facebook and become a fan of the Hope Phones page.
• Tell the world on Twitter - use #HopePhones as a tag so we can thank you.
• Let us know if you want the Hope Phones widget for your website or blog.
3. Contact info@hopephones.org if you’d like to help set up a Hope Phones collection center.