[Re: https://www.hifa.org/dgroups-rss/mhealth-innovate-48-what-strategies-cou... ]
This is a common practice in Uganda. Health workers buy what we call airtime bundles, which provide you around 2000 to 3000 minutes at a cost of approximately $10 a month. These services are usually limited to calls across the same network. This forces health workers like majority of Ugandans to carry more than one phone so that they can buy such bundles from two commonly used service providers.
The ministry of health does not provide budget lines for airtime at health facilities levels, which means that the staff don't get any compensation.
However, health workers who support HIV and TB programmes, Malaria etc. that are implemented in partnership with NGOs may get some support in form of airtime to facilitate activities like patients' follow-up, referrals, community mobilisation, partner tracking and contact tracing and reporting. This kind of support is however dependent of availability of resources and the funds are not available or delayed, they are expected to use their own money to support all these activities and more.
They are also expected to use their own phones and airtime to attend on line meetings and trainings etc.
HIFA profile: Immaculate Nakityo Lwanga is a Project Manager/Administrator at Makerere University College of Health Sciences, Uganda. She is interested in working with projects/programmes on HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, Health Systems Strengthening, socio-economic empowerment for vulnerable populations, Gender and women and Orphans and other Vulnerable children. Such programmes may focus on awareness and education, capacity building, direct service delivery and/or research. She is a member of the HIFA mHEALTH-INNOVATE working group, which is supporting the HIFA members to explore the question: What can we learn from health workers' informal use of mobile phones?
https://www.hifa.org/support/members/immaculate-nakityo
https://www.hifa.org/projects/mhealth-innovate-what-can-we-learn-health-...
immacn AT yahoo.com