Digital solutions for health and nutrition: Burkina Faso

Digital Health Solutions providing support through technology towards equitable and comprehensive coverage of all communities, including hard-to-reach areas.

Despite progress made in reducing child mortality over the last two decades, preventable and treatable conditions such as diarrhoea, pneumonia, malaria and malnutrition remain the leading cause of death for children under 5 years old in lowincome countries. Strategies have been developed for the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) and Communitybased Management of Acute Malnutrition(CMAM).

However, health care worker (HCW) adherence to these protocols tends to be low, and IMCI and CMAM services are not well coordinated, resulting in poor-quality treatment of sick children. Digital solutions offer the possibility to systematise approaches, improving protocol adherence significantly, as well as reducing manual errors and supporting nutrition service delivery.

Burkina Faso showcases best practice with an integrated digital health solution implemented at scale: covering 84% of the country’s primary health care facilities (PHCs) and with over ten million consultations supported by a digital job aid.