Mobile Health for Development
When health officials need to track the success rate of health campaigns, they turn to a mobile health tool that enables data to be quickly and accurately collected even in the most remote areas.
Working with the World Health Organization (WHO), the nonprofit DataDyne.org, and country Ministries of Health, the UN Foundation-Vodafone Foundation Technology Partnership is developing a sustainable and scalable technology solution to quickly collect vital health data. This data is equipping decision makers with the right tools to make smart decisions about critical public health issues, making it easier to combat deadly diseases and save lives.
The Mobile Health (mHealth) for Development program is decreasing the cost of health data collection by supporting the development of the free and open source EpiSurveyor software for mobile devices. It is increasing the capacity of developing-country health workers by training more than 800 health workers in 22 countries in sub-Saharan Africa by the end of 2008. Plans for expansion in other regions are now underway.
With the Rockefeller Foundation, we co-hosted a weeklong discussion of mHealth challenges and opportunities at the conference “Making the eHealth Connection: Global Partners, Local Solutions.” It was designed to develop a roadmap and global partnerships to support emerging digital technologies to improve public health. Twenty-five private sector and public health leaders explored the challenges, opportunities and way forward in building mHealth systems to improve the access, efficiency and quality of health services in the developing world. Click here for more information.
The UN Foundation and Vodafone Foundation’s mHealth for Development program, and the projects it supports, are the 2008 recipients of: the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET) Information Technology Award; the Mobile Industry Review Award for Best Public Use of Mobile; and designation of DataDyne.org as Tech Museum Awards Laureate.
Read about our mHealth program in the recent report Wireless Technology for Social Change.
STORIES OF IMPACT
Mobile Activism: Make Text, Not War
Area of Involvement: Technology
When waves of political violence swept through Kenya after the December 2007 presidential election, human rights advocates in the country turned to cell phones to help stem the violence.
Rapid Hurricane Response: Haiti
Area of Involvement: Technology
This summer has been a tragic time for Haiti. The country, the poorest in the Western hemisphere, was already suffering from the global food crisis. In August and September 2008, three consecutive hurricanes – Gustav, Hanna and Ike – devastated the island nation.
RESOURCES
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mHealth for Development
Issue Area: Technology
The most recent publication in our series—mHealth for Development: Mobile Communications for Health—outlines the opportunity presented by the burgeoning field of mobile health (mHealth). The publication examines the rapid adoption of mobile technologies by developing countries to improve health data collection - ultimately precipitating improvements in general health and patient care in some of the most remote and resource-poor regions of the world.
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Mobile Phone Banking & Low-Income Customers
Issue Area: Technology
The UN Foundation-Vodafone Foundation Partnership collaborated with the Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP) and South Africa’s Finmark Trust to examine the role of mobile phones in delivering banking services to the poor. The study aims to improve the ability of governments, NGOs, and service providers to give poor people access to banking and other financial services needed to relieve poverty, raise standards of living and create economic development.
