Case Study: PATH reduces missing malaria reports with Twilio SMS alerts

Using SMS alerts to stop preventable disease

PATH, a global health nonprofit working in Zambia to support malaria elimination, faced a challenge with incomplete weekly and monthly health reports that made it harder for the Ministry of Health to track cases and respond quickly. To close those data gaps, PATH used Twilio communications as part of its broader data and visualization effort.

PATH and the Ministry of Health built Viz Alerts, an open-source system that uses Twilio SMS to automatically notify health workers when reports are missing and let them submit the data by text. The solution was rolled out to 200 health facilities and helped reduce missing report volume by more than 21%, saving staff time and improving the timeliness and quality of malaria data.

PATH

Jeff Berson

Senior Director of Results Management, Measurement, and Learning