Track the Spread – innovation by Kelaniya University Rotaract Club
View(s):Sri Lanka which is ahead of the curve on Covid-19 with only 2881 cases and a recovery rate of 91.5% way ahead of the global average of 66% can be attributed to three things. The access to quality health service, timely decisions by decision makers and discipline by the community said the project Director for Rotary: Stop The Spread Dr Rohantha Athukorala. The fatality rate at a low ebb of 0.38% as against the global average of 3.6% tells the world the highly skill set of the health service sector given the epidemic proportion that neighborhood countries like India, Pakistan and Maldives. We from Rotary must support the state to maintain this performance and we are proud of the innovation by the Rotaract Club of Kelaniya he said.
The University of Kelaniya Rotaractors in discussion with Senior Rotarian Dr Dammika Adikariwattage attached to the Health Ministry of Sri Lanka.
The Rotaractors who constitute the young adults of a country is the training ground for taking higher responsibility in Rotary in Sri Lanka, have around 5800 members and has around seventy clubs across the country. One of the key entities being the Rotaract Club of Kelaniya University headed by Nipuna Ramnukkanage. The young entity which has some of the best brains in the country has developed an Mobile app that can track the movements of a Suspected Covid-19 patient with a product branded “ Track the Spread” a first in Sri Lanka said the energetic Rotaractor.
During the research stage the Rotary Club of Kelaniya did extensive field work with the key personalities in the health sector like Senior Rotarian Dr Dammika Adikariwattage to find out the practical issues when dealing with patients at quarantine stage. One of the key limitations identified in the current proc de was that Police officers and PHI’s have to visit and check the patients daily and when the case load increases with patients coming in from Sri Lankan’s returning from overseas can lead leakage from the system.
Given the mandate announced by the District Rotaract Representative for Sri Lanka & Maldives Kasun Segera, the Rotaract Club has developed a mobile app branded ‘ Track the Spread’ which can be run on any android device whilst in the near future the product will be developed to be run on both Android and IOS devices where a given patient can be tracked right accross the day said President of Rotaract Club of Kelaniya Nipuna Ramnukkanage. The next development will be an alert automatically generated when a patient moves outside a 50 meter radius so that the MOH officers task will be more efficient and impactful backed by technology he said.
The District Governor for Rotary Sri Lanka & Maldives Ajith Weerasinghe commented in the Rotaract Club’s initiative ‘ We are happy to support the next stage development of this innovative product ‘ which will not only help Sri Lanka In flattening the curve but also take it via the Global Rotary network accross the world. Lets first test market it and then with the confidence level plan the next stage said the Governor who is the CEO/MD of the blue chip organisation CIC Poultry Feeds Limited under the CIC Group of Companies.
Rotary in Sri Lanka has supported the country in many health initiatives like making Sri Lanka the first country in South Asia to be polio free, setting up of the human heart valve Bank together with the Ministry of Health and in the current Covid-19 epidemic the initiative of the ‘ Covid-19 Control Environment” implemented by the Sri Lanka Standard Institute( SLSI) said The Rotary Governor Weerasinghe. There are are over one hundred companies in the process and twenty three companies already certified said.