Description (short summary):
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. According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), there are now over 5 billion wireless subscribers; over 70% of them reside in low- and middle income countries. The GSM Association reports commercial wireless signals cover over 85% of the world's population, extending far beyond the reach of the electrical grid.
For the first time the World Health Organization's (WHO) Global Observatory for eHealth (GOe) has sought to determine the status of mHealth in Member States; its 2009 global survey contained a section specifically devoted to mHealth. Completed by 114 Member States, the survey documented for analysis four aspects of mHealth: adoption of initiatives, types of initiatives, status of evaluation, and barriers to implementation. Fourteen categories of mHealth services were surveyed: health call centres, emergency toll-free telephone services, managing emergencies and disasters, mobile telemedicine, appointment reminders, community mobilisation and health promotion, treatment compliance, mobile patient records, information access, patient monitoring, health surveys and data collection, surveillance, health awareness raising, and decision support systems.
Based on the 2009 survey findings, this publication includes a series of detailed case studies highlighting best practices in mHealth in different settings. The publication will be of particular interest to policymakers in health and information technology, as well as those in the mobile telecommunications and software development industries.
Number of pages: 112
Related ePractice publications:
INT: Global Observatory for eHealth series - Atlas of eHealth country profiles
INT: Global Observatory for eHealth series - Telemedicine - Opportunities and developments in Member States
ISBN Number: 978 - 92 4 -156425 0
Description of license: © World Health Organization 2011
Nature of documentation: Official reports and studies