By George Aine
Students of Mentor Secondary School in Lira Municipality have designed a mobile application that helps in testing Diabetes.
The Blood Sugar Zero (BSZ) mobile application, according to the developers, helps in testing signs and symptoms of diabetes using a simple tap on an Android-enabled mobile phone.
“While other students go for games after classes, we would march straight to the computer laboratory to work on the project that lasted five months. We are sure that this app will help a lot,” Priscilla Amuge, a leader of the Apple Group that developed the app, says.
How it works
The students say they are currently engaging their school administration to have their new product patented before it can be uploaded into Google Play Store from where users can download.
To use the application, once uploaded, you first need to download it from Google Play Store. After that, you sign up before an examination window pops up asking for your particulars and medical history, Patience Atyang, another member of the group, explains.
“Once the form (examination window) is filled, another window pops up with a provision of placing your thumb. After placing your thumb, it starts screening your blood vessels and issues your blood sugar level value against the normal blood sugar level,” she says. “So if it gives you values that are out of range (below or above the normal), you know there is a problem.”
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Amuge adds: “People are dying because of limited innovation and so we thought of coming up with an app so that people can try to adopt it and really make life better.”
Deogratius Delafrique, another team member, says much as the application has been “successfully developed”, they are considering improving it further so that the illiterate are also able to use it.
“Since the application is only supported in Android-enabled gadgets in English, it may still be a problem for the literate use,” he says.
However, no one has ever used this app because it’s not yet uploaded.
Amuge demonstrates how the app will work.
Motivation
In 2016, Amuge’s aunt was very sick and almost died. Later, it was discovered that her blood sugar level was too much. And since then she has been on medication. “That experience is why we came up with this app,” says Amuge.
Mr. Tonny Ogwal, ICT patron at Mentor SS, says: “Basically, we are looking at trying to expose the students to build up unique and solution applications on their own. Already, the school is looking towards supporting students who are innovative to have their ideas developed and transformed into a real world.”
Apple Group members are; Amuge (Senior Four), Atyang (Senior Five), Brian Odongo (Senior Five 5), Delafrique (Senior Five ) and Solomon Obote (Senior Five ).
The World Health Organization estimates that non-communicable diseases (NDCs) like diabetes are responsible for 63% of deaths worldwide, with more than half of these deaths occurring in low and middle-income countries like Uganda. In Uganda, the national statistics estimate the prevalence of diabetes at 1.3%.
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