Texts used to tackle South Africa HIV crisis

http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/12/01/hiv.text.messages/index.html#cnnSTCText

LONDON, England (CNN) -- One million free text messages will be sent every day for 12 months from Monday in South Africa in a bid to raise HIV awareness and encourage testing for the disease.

Former South African president Nelson Mandela launched a similar cell phone initiative in 2003.

The ambitious Project Masiluleke is being rolled out across the country after a pilot period that saw calls to a AIDS national helpline shoot up by 200 percent, organizers say.
The United Nations estimates that there are currently six million people living with HIV in South Africa and just one in 10 get the treatment they need. "South Africa is the epicenter of the global HIV epidemic," said HIV activist Zinny Thabethe in Octorber at an annual conference for the social innovation network Pop!Tech, an organization instrumental in developing the concept.
'Project Masiluleke,' or 'Project M' was set up to try to encourage people to seek testing and treatment in a country where cell phones are abundant.

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