Hygiene by Dr Tech

In the world in general, in Africa in particular, the vast majority of people is careless about hygiene as a whole. This a daily yet actual challenge as outbreaks have shown and are still showing us (cholera and other preventable bacterial infections outbreaks i.e typhoid fever which still are burdens in Africa, Ebola outbreak in DRC (Zaire) and Sudan in 2014; current COVID-19 pandemic); strengthened by the conception of a particularly great immunity in African race.

My solution is to create an Android, iOS and computer-based application called "HYGIENE" that will be an interactive game focused on various daily real life situations where hygiene is most needed to avoid infection risk i.e infectious diseases and especially, epidemiology so that to get people learn, master and daily practice those measures so that they become a routine. A better hope can then be gotten worldwide to limit pandemics if solution worldwide spread.

It is estimated by WHO that quite some 827,000 people in low- and middle-income countries (in Africa in majority) die as a result of inadequate water, sanitation and hygiene each year, representing 60% of total infectious diseases-related deaths. This reminds us just a bit of which havoc burdens pandemics -i.e the current COVID-19 one for example- are able to wreak in these conditions, only due to absence of practicing hygiene measures. Governments in Africa particularly don't invest into means to get people continuously instructed and followed-up in the route of effectiveness of their accomplishment. I made a national survey earlier this year on how many of literate people respect those measures and it came out that just 11% do. Scaling this result to the whole world, the solution proposed here is intended to solve the problems of ignorance and absence of application of hygiene measures (personal: hand hygiene, respiratory hygiene, mask hygiene, etc., domestic and community hygiene). Actually, the vast majority people around the world are careless about hygiene and particular solutions dedicated to particular situations like pandemics; situations that did recall the humanity, the unprecedented use and need of those measures to part of our routine lives.

The solution's project is to build an application called "HYGIENE" that will be developed for Android platform initially and then extended to iOS and Windows platforms. It will be based upon an interactive teaching and learning game based on real-life situations (cartooned pictures and videos or files uploaded in their native conditions) that require practical hygiene measures actions with visuals (pictures, videos and interactive exercises) to incite people in learning and/or deepening their knowledge on hygiene matter related to various life areas (personal, domestic and community hygiene including pandemics situations simulations). Since its intended primarily for African populations, it will be crafted for the whole world as well so that people get pushed into a minute mass sensitization (reaching billions of people using the application within one minute span time) and a call for action. There will be a follow-up sheet that users will fill each day for their progression in putting the measures into practice (a measure started on a day and continuously used). In the medium and long-term basis, it should help people get certificate to value everywhere (context of WHO rights to get) and include credits-based system for healthcare workers and health fileds' students particularly.

The solution will serve populations of Africa in particular; the one of the world as a whole, in general. It will be of a standard understanding for populations so that they really get the most out from it in an adapted way (language +++). Particularly, it will be very useful for healthcare workers according to a grading (progression) and credits system; making them community change agents by inciting them into taking action for broad sensitization in their respective communities. It will provide them with cutting-edge, straight to the point and constantly updated information regarding hygiene and various real life situations. The application will also incite governments into mobilizing funds for sensitization and preventive measures in countries where it's not the case; African countries especially. It also is sought to drive in many partners to make hygiene, a core component of the community-level fight against infection diseases through an emphasize of social responsibility of each of us (humans). By achieving this, the applications is expected to be the hygiene change agent driver so that to, at least, mitigate or effectively help stop transmissible infectious diseases epidemic so that they do not become pandemic with high burden for the humanity.

Hygiene principles are to be well-known and spread among populations that are therefore called to constantly put them into practice so that to inform effective preventive measures. Lack of this kind of information and the absence of its daily application is the starting point of every bad health condition associated with transmissible infectious diseases (COVID-19's example); especially in conditions where population is in majority illiterate and do not realize the importance of those measures in the infectious diseases mitigation process. Our solution will fix this gap; therefore participating to an enhanced health security at personal, domestic and community levels.

This solution is innovative because it helps reach the assigned goals by distance and in a short span of time. Billions of people around the world daily use their smartphones for different purposes. Our application is expected to reach those billions of people and act at their gate; inciting them into committing efforts daily to get used to basic and advanced hygiene principles and rules. It also comes as a great solution for health care professional to prevent health care associated infections by providing them with onsite information in  global health security context. It will help reach people from remote areas (African particularly) who usually don't have access to cutting-edge and concise information regarding hygiene so that they understand that they are the actors of their health conditions and should operate accordingly to always keep in good health condition and, so doing, protecting themselves as well as others at the same time especially for transmissible infectious diseases. The application will come with an innovative solution of a filling sheet focused on each hygiene principle and/or rule so that people evaluate their consistency into taking action to get used to that measure. A special track record will be implemented to get people keep engaged towards their objectives and improve themselves in their learning pathway. It's a solution intended to drive change at the community level by interactive at an individual level; bringing each one to act for one's security and so doing, fellow's one. It will be multiple platforms supportive and

The core technology is AI. AI will help communities grow in learning with the application so that it adapts to their local conditions and daily lives. This is adapted to the new and unprecedented "BIG DATA" technology. It will help us track data regarding people's routine conditions information regarding hygiene at personal, domestic and community level so that to suggest changes to improve the way they get along with the hygiene rules and conditions to get them fir their needs. Big data not only will provide those sensitive and valuable information but also help inform personal, domestic and community-level based measures to inform preventive measures to mitigate and/or stop the spread of transmissible infection diseases and, at a broad level, epidemics so that they do not become life-threatening pandemics like COVID-19. Actually, pandemics are still to occur if hygiene principles and rules are not engraved into our daily lives practices. With the big data era, the application will include a chat bot to specifically address inquiries at individual level and grow with those inquiries so that to be responsive in a way to target specific needs and inform accurate measures to get them implemented through mobilization from governments and other sponsors industries to help the world mitigate and/or stop pandemics. Adaption will be possible with contextualized solution relevant to local conditions at a medium and long-term levels. 

Big data

It's a solution not yet implemented. It's going to be effective with means and I'm highly expecting it to be real. I'm intending to impact around 100 millions people in Africa at least and 1,000 millions of people around the world at its lunch; meaning the short term. Therefore, with its originality, it's expected to impact billions of lives around the world including health care providers to enhance security at health care facilities level.

The goal the next year is to improve the application so that it becomes the focus of hygiene in Africa and the world as a whole. Use AI and big data powers and opportunities throughout their functionalities so that get the application encrusted in people's lives before to get used to those basic and advanced hygiene principles and rules. In the next five years, the solution shall be associated with VR (Virtual Reality) solutions so that to bring the use of the application at the next level so get people touch reality regarding the key role of hygiene in keeping people in good health conditions.

Financial limitations. The project has already been crafted in a whole but does lack support.

Crowdfunding

MIT SOLVE CHALLENGE

Personal endeavor

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We are a team made of two medical doctors and a radiologist. We all are health workers and have experience in the filed, especially transmissible infectious diseases. Both the medical doctors have many years experience in clinical management of patients with the previous mentioned health condition (internal medicine and especially infectious diseases ward, emergency medicine, etc.). Also, we did lecture a lot on public health (a realm of passion for us), especially health promotion measures aligning with preventive medicine principles and participated in many diseases' screening activities. Especially, by this COVID-19 pandemic, I'm part of the national rapid response team (BENIN) and do realize the reality behind hygiene principles and rules especially in remote areas I'm working in. Also, the management made by our government and the ones of Africa in general, as compared to other countries' ones does provide us with lessons about aspects we shall improve to get people be committed about being the actors of their health condition and their fellows' ones too.

None. We are looking for partners though.