World Health Organisation (WHO) Country Representative to Namibia, Charles Sagoe-Moses on Wednesday handed over 57 cellphones to the Ministry of Health and Social Services (MoHSS) to help with detecting polio and other diseases for timely response. The handover of Samsung Galaxy J4 Core phones valued at N$140 000 took place at the ministry’s headquarters in the capital, and the phones will be used to collect data for polio and other diseases in different regions of the country by health officials, using the Open Data Kit (ODK) App. Sagoe-Moses said the initiative is a recommendation by WHO that countries should use advanced technology such as e-surveillance and the ODK App to document evidence towards polio eradication initiatives. “This is indeed a milestone in health care management which eventually will improve the quality of our health services in the area of timely detection of epidemic-prone diseases, disease outbreaks, immunisation coverage and tracing of defaulters on immunisation as well as effective vaccine management,” said Sagoe-Moses. He added that the system has been used in countries like Nigeria and others around Africa and the world and it has been successful in assisting to detect diseases at an early stage and contain them. MoHSS Executive Director Ben Nangombe, in a speech read on his behalf by Deputy Executive Director Bertha Katjivena, said the initiative is part of the ministry’s efforts to implement the electronic health system through innovations and new technologies. “This process promotes coordinated, sustainable and proficient programme assessment by optimising communication, planning, monitoring, objective evaluation and use of data for action,” said Nangombe. He added that the system provides the opportunity for tracking and providing real-time evidence of conducted surveillance activities as well as documenting local surveillance best practices and sharing among countries and districts.