A biometric system that will use a patient’s iris for identification has been tested and reported ready for deployment. The system tested among 8,794 HIV patients is reported to have been highly effective, acceptable and friendly to use.

This is a big boost to HIV programs, as the US had threatened to cut funding if Kenya did not adopt biometric identifiers. The testing has been carried out by the Ministry of Health, Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH) and University of Washington, US.

The study published last month in International Journal of Medical Informatics says iris identification was highly accepted in both rural and urban areas. The testing was done at KNH, Kiambu Level Five Hospital, Kisumu East County Hospital and Kombewa Sub-county Hospital in western Kenya.

Read the entire story at Standard Media and the journal article at ScienceDirect.