mHealth Introduction and Overview

To understand the opportunities presented by mHealth, it helps to understand where mHealth can fit within current health systems in developing countries. It is also necessary to determine how accessible mobile technology is in areas of planned use. The particular circumstances of  mobile users also affects how they can be served by mHealth. These issues are covered below in resources on mHealth strategy, access, and uses by specific populations.

Overview and Strategies for mHealth

Mobile Technology: Availability, Providers and Projects by Country

mHealth for Specific Populations

2006 | Global Health. 2 | 14
Abstract: The ongoing policy debate about the value of communications technology in promoting development objectives is diverse. Some view computer/web/phone communications technology as insufficient to solve development problems while others view communications technology as assisting all sections of the population. This paper looks at evidence to support or refute the idea that fixed and mobile telephones is, or could be, an effective healthcare intervention in developing countries.

Overviews and Strategies for mHealth

These sources provide a comprehensive view of mHealth and how it fits within health systems
    2012 | mHealth Alliance | Pages: 30
    The objectives of this second report are to:
    2012 | USAID
    Mobile technologies empower the poor to take hold of their future. They fundamentally transform the way people in the developing world interact with one another and their governments, and access basic health, education, business and financial services.
    2012 | International Media Support (IMS) and the Zimbabwean Humanitarian Information Facilitation Center (HIFC) | Pages: 7
    How can smartphones be used to connect disaster-affected populations and the authorities that are supposed to assist them ? This new report on the use of mobile surveys in Zimbabwe shows a way. This report by International Media Support (IMS) and the Zimbabwean Humanitarian Information Facilitation Center (HIFC) documents the experiences and lessons learnt in conducting smartphone surveys to explore how people access and receive humanitarian information in Zimbabwe.
    2012 | The mHealth Working Group mBCC Technical Group | Abt Associates Inc.
    About:
    2012 | GSMA | Pages: 74
    This full length research report surveys the wants, needs, aspirations and mobile uses of women living at the base of the pyramid (BoP), which are those living on under US$2 a day.
    2012 | Marie Stopes International | Pages: 12
    This case study presents programmatic lessons to help organisations and programme managers to replicate this model of reimbursement. It also describes the implementation process and identifies the challenges MSM faced and how these challenges were overcome. The case study also highlights modifications planned by MSM to strengthen its use of the SMS money transfers to reimburse subsidised vouchers and concludes with recommendations for the strategic integration of SMS money transfer systems in future voucher programmes.
    2011 | WHO | Pages: 54
    The compendium of new and emerging technologies that address global health concerns has been created as a neutral platform for technologies which are likely to be suitable for use in low-resource settings. It is released to encourage the dialogue between ministries of health, procurement officers, donors, technology developers, manufacturers, clinicians, academics and the general public.
    2011 | FrontlineSMS | Pages: 60
    The purpose of this guide is to provide FrontlineSMS users designing, implementing, and monitoring programs with data integrity concerns in mind with a data integrity framework. The guide is intended to help users to understand, analyze, and address the vulnerabilities, risks and threats that can affect the integrity of the information communicated through the FrontlineSMS platform 
    2011 | iheed | Pages: 44
    The iheed Institute and Dalberg Global Development Advisors have prepared this report to set the stage for mHealthEd 2011 at GSMA m-Health Alliance Mobile Health Summit, which is the first dedicated conference on the emerging phenomenon of mobile Health Education.
    2011 | WHO Global Observatory for eHealth Series
    The use of mobile and wireless technologies to support the achievement of health objectives (mHealth) has the potential to transform the face of health service delivery across the globe. A powerful combination of factors is driving this change. These include rapid advances in mobile technologies and applications, a rise in new opportunities for the integration of mobile health into existing eHealth services, and the continued growth in coverage of mobile cellular networks.
    2011 | MobileMonday | Pages: 68
    According to industry estimates, there are more than 500 million mobile phone subscribers in Africa now, up from 246 million in 2008. With this is a great opportunity to take advantage of this technology. MobileMonday (MoMo) which is "an open community platform of mobile industry visionaries, developers, and influencial individuals fostering brand neutral cooperation and cross-border P2P business opportunities", has created a report that highlights the mobile's success.
    2011 | Commissioned by Advanced Development for Africa | Pages: 23
    This white paper identifies best practices and specific programmatic, operational, policy and global strategy recommendations to promote the scale up of mHealth in developing countries through an assessment of current implementations of mHealth programs and interviews of mHealth experts. Profiled in this report are several mHealth programs that have been piloted and are currently in the scale up phase, and have proven enough success that they should be considered as models for other initiatives to follow.
    2010 | Health Affairs (Project Hope) | Pages: 252-258
    Abstract: Developing countries face steady growth in the prevalence of chronic diseases, along with a continued burden from communicable diseases. "Mobile" health, or m-health-the use of mobile technologies such as cellular phones to support public health and clinical care-offers promise in responding to both types of disease burdens. Mobile technologies are widely available and can play an important role in health care at the regional, community, and individual levels. We examine various m-health applications and define the risks and benefits of each.
    2010 | The Earth Institute Columbia University: mHealth Alliance | Pages: 79
    Summary: This article is a review of pertinent information on barriers and gabs to implementing and sustaining mobile technologies in developing countries. It splits the information into the uses for mHealth; treatment compliance, disease prevention and health promotion, point-of-care support for health professionals and outreach workers, telemedicine, and emergency medical services.
    2009 | United Nations Foundation | Pages: 70
    Summary: This report examines issues at the heart of the rapidly evolving intersection of mobile phones and healthcare. It helps the reader to across developing regions, the health needs to which mHealth can be applied, and the mHealth applications that promise the greatest impact on heath care initiatives. It also identifiies issues associated with the use of mHealth applications and their impact on healthcare initiatives.
    2009 | MIT Press Journal | Pages: 15
    Summary: This paper looks at many reviews and presentations about mobile phones and health in developing countries in order to make a case for the future potential of mHealth in developing countries. It includes observations and discussions that are now shaping the creation of mHealth as a field and highlights the ingredients we need to move forward in this area to maximize the health-related benefits of mHealth. 
    2008 | J Telemed Telecare.14: 381-385. | 5
    E-health is a novel concept which is expected to increase efficiency in health service delivery and increase access to underserved populations such as the aging, low-income, and geographically-isolated. Mobile eHealth is a subset of e-Health that utilizes mobile phone integration in health interventions. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU-D) has promoted mobile e-health in developing countries and is partnering with the IEEE Communication Society to cover three areas: disaster telemedicine, epidemic control and bio-terrorism.  
    2008 | Tha Lancet | 650 (1 pp)
    Upon follow-up of maternal deaths in community-level studies in Burkina Faso and Indonesia, this opinion piece stresses that health service provision for the poorest households could benefit from existing cellular networks. As the use of mobile phones has overtaken the provision of basic services in many developing countries, the potential for the benefits of mobile phone use for health services remains unclear.
    2008 | The Rockefeller Foundation | Pages: 9
    Summary: The document discusses and diagrams current mobile monitoring and diagnosis and discusses the potential evolution of further mobile access for mHealth applications. It includes case studies from South Africa, Indonesia, and India. The authors conclude that the overall development of mHealth will be driven by consumer demand, possibly resulting from value-added service by the mobile phone industry, by health care policy makers, and, possibly, by technological advances in wireless broadband in the near future.
    2008 | The Earth Institute at Columbia University. Original Draft prepared for the World Health Organization | Pages: 62
    Summary: This report maps out what is known about a broad range of mobile and wireless technologies and the contributions that they are making towards achieving health care objectives in low and middle income countries. The report is divided into six sections: overview of mHealth as a critical domain within eHealth, review of health-related applications associated with mobile technologies, exploration of how various technologies are being used to achieve health objectives, documentation of key leaders and partnerships that have emerged to test and exp
    2007 | United Nations Publication | Pages: 165
    Summary: Volume 1 of the Compendium, the first in the series, focuses on m-technology software products and applications in the areas of health (m-health) and learning (m-learning) that are being used in both developed and developing countries.The document presents issues and implications in the use of Mobile technology for health and learning in developing and developed countries.  
    2007 | Scientific American | 30-31 (2 pp)
    One of the remaining challenges for mobile phone adoption in developing countries is reaching use among those who are illiterate. Collaborating with anthropologists, psychologists, and other experts; Motorola studied illiterate villages and their use of televisions, tape players, and stationary phones. The result of three years of research into user behavior evolved into the low-cost Motofone tailored to illiterate users in resource-limited settings.  
    2006 | Information for Development Program | Pages: 65
    Summary: Improving the health of individuals and communities, and strengthening health systems, disease detection and prevention are crucial to development and poverty reduction. ICTs have the potential to impact almost every aspect of the health sector. In public health, information management and communication processes are pivotal, and are facilitated or limited by available ICTs. 

Mobile Technology: Availability, Providers and Projects by Country

Regional and country-level statistics on the penetration and markets of mobiles and other information and communications technologies (ICT). This also includes a global database that lists mobile projects by country, providing examples and ICT partners that are available in your country.

mHealth for Specific Populations

How mHealth fits the needs of particular populations, such as women or the rural illiterate
    2010 | GSMA Development Fund | Pages: 55
    Summary: Mobile phone ownership in low and middle-income countries has skyrocketed in the past several years. But a woman is still 21% less likely to own a mobile phone than a man. This figure increases to 23% if she lives in in Africa, 24% if she lives in the Middle East, and 37% if she lives in South Asia. Closing this gender gap would bring the benefits of mobile phones to an additional 300 million women. By extending the benefits of mobile phone ownership to more women, a host of social and economic goals can be advanced.
    2009 | MobileActive.org
    Summary: This article explains that although mobile technology is helpful at disseminating information and connecting people, it does not overshadow existing social norms. In societies where women are powerless and seen as second class citizens, the mobile phone only reinforces disparities. Women in many different developing countries do not have the ability to purchase mobile phones and in many cases are illiterate, so they are not able to take full advantage of the benefits of mobile phones. 
    2008 | Center for Knowledge Societies | Pages: 23
    Summary: Key insights of telecom companies in rural markets. This report reviews key learnings from the research conducted in Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, Bangladesh and India. The research for South and South-East Asia was designed with the aim of gaining key marketing insights from the middle management of companies successfully involved in rural markets in these world regions.
    2008 | International Telecommunication Union | Pages: 73
    Summary: This report presents relevant and reliable data on the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) by the world’s young people, to describe the limitations of existing data, and to present proposals to increase and improve data on young people’s use of ICT.