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Mobile phones connecting efforts to tackle infectious disease
For more on the UNF-VF With 2·2 billion mobile phones in DataDyne.org’s open-source program, that connectivity is no longer a hurdle,
Partnership and mHealth see developing countries, mobile tech- EpiSurveyor, which uses personal providers can and must work together
http://www.unfoundation.org/
press-center/publications/ nology can be used to detect and digital assistants to collect public to build integrated, interoperable
mhealth-for-development.html respond to disease outbreaks and health data. Starting with measles systems, before the world ends up
For more on the Rockefeller improve public health and health care. immunisation coverage, the program with a mishmash of incompatible
Foundation eHealth conference Now, the mobile health (mHealth) has been piloted in Kenya and Zambia, efforts”.
see http://www.ehealth-
connection.org/
Alliance—a partnership between and will roll out to 22 sub-Saharan The way forward is “smart global-
the Rockefeller Foundation, the African countries by the end of isation”, says Brown, pointing to the
UN Foundation, and the Vodafone 2009. “This will extend the links and Mekong Basin Disease Surveillance
Foundation—is beginning to connect communication between WHO and Network as a hallmark example:
individuals, projects, and national and health ministries”, says Thwaites, “people with different skills, speaking
international agencies, to make the “health-care workers can alert and act different languages, and reporting
most of mHealth. in real time.” to different hierarchies now enjoy
In 2008, the Rockefeller Foundation Other projects focus on education new ways of working together on
initiated a conference series on tech- and health promotion. Text to shared information communication
nology and health—one key element, Change, a Dutch non-governmental technology platforms”.
cohosted by the UN Foundation and organisation (NGO), has developed The Alliance partner InSTEDD
Vodafone Foundation Partnership short message service (SMS) quizzes (Innovative Support to Emergencies
(UNF-VF Partnership), was on mHealth. on HIV/AIDS in Uganda, with prizes of Diseases and Disasters) is developing
Subsequently, the mHealth Alliance free air time and mobiles. “So far the open-source communication solutions
was born at the GMSA Mobile World programme has been associated with that can be adapted to local needs.
Congress in Barcelona, Spain (Feb 17, a 40% increase in HIV testing”, says Eric Rasmussen (InSTEDD, Palo Alto, CA,
2009). Claire Thwaites, who heads the Thwaites, “it’s so simple, but it’s been USA), explains that for communication
UNF-VF Partnership, told TLID that so effective in encouraging people with remote villages, SMS-based group
the three founders have “committed to take action.” Patricia Mechael messaging (GeoChat) is replacing alerts
to funding for 1 year to incubate (Millennium Villages Project, Columbia previously sent via boats and bicycles
the Alliance, before it becomes an University, New York, NY, USA) notes and also allows community health
independent legal entity”. This year, that “there are a number of informal workers live participation with rapid
the Alliance is already “kickstarting and formal ways that people are response teams. Then, their Mesh4x
activities and engagement with capitalising on increasing access to synchronisation tool allows response
broader stakeholders”, continues telecommunications networks and teams to share data from different
Thwaites. technologies. SMS is used to remind applications via mobile phones
Karl Brown (Rockefeller Foundation, patients to take medications or plugged into laptops. Currently, the
New York, NY, USA) reckons that book appointments, for example. A WHO Global Outbreak Alerting and
large-scale projects should be ready by key challenge is to move from pilot Response Network is also testing
then. One such project, commissioned projects to national scaleable projects, InSTEDD mobile technology to collect
by the UNF-VF Partnership, is says Mechael. global data and identify potential new
In the coming year, says Mechael, threats with cognitive analytic tools.
many bottom-up approaches, mostly Automated suggestions, hypotheses,
aimed at data collection and decision and probabilities can be reviewed by
support for local health workers, will a human decision maker, then a pre-
begin to scale up to national level. identified team can be alerted by SMS
Secondly, “platforms at the top will “to get further opinions from the best
filter down”. The next step, she says, is people around the world wherever they
to engage governments and national are”, says Rasmussen.
ministries to decide how mHealth can “This year feels like a tipping point
for using mobile phones for health”,
Joel Selanikio, DataDyne.org
fit national objectives, especially those
targeted at Millennium Development says Thwaites. “They won’t solve
Goals. In addition, partnerships must diseases, but they will help health-care
be formed between governments, workers to tackle diseases.”
with technologists, NGOs, academia,
2007 Zambia measles vaccination coverage survey with EpiSurveyor and industry. Brown also urges: “now Kelly Morris
274 www.thelancet.com/infection Vol 9 May 2009