In December 2018, the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi (AKUH, K) acknowledged AKDN dHRC team members for their contribution towards the successful Joint Commission International (JCI) reaccreditation. For the JCI audit, AKDN dHRC developed and launched the AKUH – JCIA mobile application to assist AKUH, K staff with preparations for reaccreditation, which occurs every three years. The JCI reaccreditation celebration was held at AKUH, K on December 4, 2018, during which team members were given awards.

The AKUH – JCIA app is a comprehensive guide, which contains essential information and guidance regarding JCI certification standards and their implementation at AKUH. The main features of the app include a JCIA Pocket Guide, providing a guide on compliance requirements; JCIA Flyers, released internally for AKUH staff; and a JCIA Checklist to ensure completion of all preparations. The app helped provide hospital staff with information on compliance requirements and checklists at their fingertips during the rigorous, on-site survey conducted in September 2018. The mobile app is publically available on the Google Play Store.

The Joint Commission International Gold Seal of Approval represents excellence in patient safety and delivery of health care. AKUH, K received initial certification in 2006, after which it has been reaccredited four times.

Hayat, meaning life in Urdu and Dari, is an innovative, digital health mobile application, that is successfully being implemented in Afghanistan and Pakistan, as part of the Hayat project, which is led by Saleem Sayani, Director, AKDN dHRC, in collaboration with the Aga Khan Health Service in Afghanistan and Pakistan; the government departments in Pakistan and the Ministry of Public Health, Afghanistan.

The Hayat project aims to empower frontline health workers with knowledge and skills through the use of digital health technologies in their routine services, in efforts to increase coverage of and access to routine immunization, maternal, neonatal and child care (MNCH) and child growth services in catchment populations of select health facilities in Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral in Pakistan and Bamyan and Badakhshan in Afghanistan.

With its launch in November 2018, the project picked up pace with several stakeholder meetings to ensure government and stakeholder engagement and buy-in from project launch. Thereafter, with stakeholder consultation and feedback, AKDN dHRC designed and developed the Hayat mobile application. Two separate mobile applications and web portals were developed for each country. The application was designed considering health system requirements specific to each country, stakeholder feedback and behavior change communication and gender equality themes. The application is in use by health workers, whereas health administrators use the web portal to track and monitor health worker activities and performance in real-time.

After staff recruitment and procurement of equipment, trainings and the baseline survey in Afghanistan and Pakistan were successfully completed in April 2019. Implementation teams have successfully rolled-out the application in the field in both countries and performance is being monitored.

The Hayat project, a transition-to-scale project, is funded by Grand Challenges Canada and the Aga Khan Foundation Canada, and builds upon the learnings of Teeko, a successful pilot project led by Dr Shehla Zaidi, Associate Professor, Department of Community Health Sciences, Aga Khan University.

The System for Research and Grants Management (Sa Re Ga Ma), a grant management application developed by AKDN dHRC in collaboration with the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi (AKUH, K), was launched at an official event at the Medical College of the Aga Khan University held in January 2019.

Representatives from different service lines and other departments were given a demonstration of the Sa Re Ga Ma application and its significance in the grant application and management process. The platform was open for discussions and questions about its uses, benefits and the technology underpinning the application. Team members of AKDN dHRC presented the use of technology in Sa Re Ga Ma and elaborated on its capacity to be implemented in any entity or department with a need to organize research projects, proposal documents and track status of grants.

Sa Re Ga Ma aims to simplify the grant application and management process. The application enables users to manage the pre- and post-award grant applications by assigning user-based rights according to roles and generating notifications to concerned users when actions are taken on a grant. Testing for the application was initiated in June 2018 and launched after a six-month testing period at the Centre of Excellence in Women and Child Health and the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health at AKUH, K.

In June 2019, Saleem Sayani, Director, AKDN dHRC attended the Women Deliver 2019 (WD 2019) Conference to showcase Nighedaasht, an award-winning mobile health application, designed and developed by AKDN dHRC in collaboration with the Aga Khan Health Service, Pakistan. Nighedaasht was selected for presentation at Appy Hour, during which Saleem discussed the potentials of digital health technologies in improving the quality of health care for girls and women and the role of Nighedaasht in supporting Community Midwives (CMW) to improve access to and provision of maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) services in the remote and rural areas of Pakistan.

This year, the focus of the conference was on “Power” and how it hinders or drives change and progress. With over 6,000 attendees from 50+ countries and more than 2,500 representatives from international organizations, including public and private sector organizations, UN agencies, foundations, journals, academia, civil society and advocates, WD 2019 was one of the largest global networking platforms.

The Appy Hour provided conference attendees and other representatives with a platform to showcase mobile applications focused on improving the lives of girls and women. The Women Deliver Conference is the world’s largest conference on gender equality and the health, rights, and well-being of girls and women.

In connection with the conference, the WD 2019 platform also promoted hundreds of satellite events across the globe to shape the moment and channel collective global power for girls and women. Following the conference, AKDN dHRC also organized a WD 2019 satellite event on June 13, 2019 at the Aga Khan University. The event was an open session to highlight the potentials of the of mobile health technologies in improving health outcomes in underserved regions. The event highlighted the successful implementation of Nighedaasht, the challenges and lessons learned, its impact and how it is improving MNCH outcomes in marginalized populations of Gilgit-Baltistan and Chitral, Pakistan. The event also highlighted how the fusion of research and technology is helping pave the way for universal health coverage.