Text messaging used to provide free malaria information to UK travellers

Travelling abroad? Text your country destination to 0780 0000 573 and find out if you may be at risk of contracting Malaria (not a premium rate service - texts are charged at standard rate according to network provider)

Britons travelling abroad to exotic destinations are now able to receive immediate and free travel health information regarding malaria thanks to a new text messaging service developed by mobile healthcare specialist iPLATO. The service, funded by GlaxoSmithKline Travel Health as part of the Malaria Awareness Campaign, allows travellers to text in the name of their destination country to receive relevant information about the malaria prevalence in that country.

Despite the fact that malaria is a preventable disease every year approximately 2,000 British travellers return home with malaria, making the UK one of the biggest importers of malaria among industrialised countries. It is hoped that by making it easier for travellers to access important health advice via their mobile phone that this number will be reduced. The service is designed so that once a traveller has been informed about the level of malaria risk at their destination they will be encouraged to contact a healthcare professional for expert advice on protection. Travellers using the service are charged their standard operator rates and the service is available over all networks.

Malaria is a risk for British travellers as people increasingly visit countries where malaria is common; there has been a 150% increase in travel to malarious destinations amongst British travellers in the last 10 years. The humble mosquito may be tiny, but it only takes one bite from an infected mosquito to transmit this potentially deadly disease.

“We are delighted with using the mobile channel in helping people correctly assessing the malaria risk at their destinations”, says Tobias Alpsten, Managing Director iPLATO. “Early reports on the volume of text interactions by travellers using the Malaria Advice Service during the month of May alone validate the usefulness of this service and its potentially life saving benefits. We hope that frequent travellers will save this phone number and consult this service whenever they have to.”

If you are travelling abroad and would like to use the service, please text the name of your destination country to 078 000 000 573 and you will receive the text response with further information. This is not a Premium Rate Service and you will be charged according the standard text message rate set by your network provider.

About the Malaria Awareness Campaign

The Malaria Awareness Campaign - supported by celebrities including John Craven, Simon Reeve, Bear Grylls and Rageh Omaar - is now in its fourth year. Sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline Travel Health and supported by a leading panel of healthcare professionals, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Association of British Travel Agents (ABTA), it aims to encourage travellers to be malaria aware and seek expert medical advice before their journey. For more information on malaria visit: www.malariahotspots.co.uk

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Notes to Editors:

About iPLATO

iPLATO is a privately owned limited company founded in London in the autumn of 1999. Over the last four years the company has invested substantial resources towards overcoming the barriers to entry of the United Kingdom healthcare market and building a mobile healthcare business. In 2003, iPLATO was awarded a SMART Feasibility Grant by the Department of Trade & Industry to study the feasibility of a national implementation of a system to remind outpatients about scheduled appointments using text messaging technology. Since completing the study, the company has built a promising business around its flagship service - Patient Care Messaging. The European Venture Contest, organised by the European Commission, recently recognised iPLATO as one of the top ten early stage technology ventures ready to “reshape their industry and to conquer the global market”. The company featured on the Red Herring Europe Top 200 of companies to watch in 2006.

Press contact:

Julia Hanley
020 3178 4676
julia.hanley@iplato.net
One Lyric Square, W6 0BN, London, United Kingdom
www.iplato.net