South African Brothers, NGO Launch Care App To Fight Virus

As part of their contribution in fighting against the growing epidemic, two brothers from South Africa have launched a new Ebola Care app to help combat the deadly virus. The app has already been deployed in Liberia by a non-profit organisation, More Than Me.

The app which allows for efficient Ebola response, was developed by Malan Joubert, 28, and Philip Joubert, 26, from Journey Apps, a South African tech startup, HumanIPO reports.

One of the brothers, Philip, said: "The Ebola outbreak is the kind of thing you assume 'other' people are worrying about… until you realise that perhaps you are 'other' people, and it's time to start doing something."

"In order to be effective during any crisis, accessing real-time data is paramount as time is of the essence," Malan said.

More Than Me's data manager, Sam Herring, said: "The Ebola Care App allows us to respond in an efficient manner. Efficiency stops the spread, and stopping the spread saves lives."

The Ebola Care app uses GPS cordinates to track individuals infected with the virus including their families; it also assists ambulance teams transporting patients to capture vital information.

"Many of the most affected areas do not use street names and run on paper medical records, making the app's capacity to identify affected 'cluster' areas and digitally monitor health workers movements a pioneering step in the fight against Ebola. The app further helps NGO's in the care of children abandoned or orphaned due to the outbreak, and monitors children under the 21-day quarantine period. "I hope every NGO responding to the Ebola crisis can get access to this app," Sam added.

To find out more about the Ebola Care app, please click HERE.