ABSTRACT
Growing interest within the health-care sector to capitalize on the widespread uptake of mobile communication technologies combined with rapid improvements in telecommunicationsinfrastructure in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) has resulted in adramaticincrease of mHealth initiatives in recent years (Collins 2012, Purkayastha et al. 2013). The International Telecommunications Union estimates that in 2014 there are almost 7 billion mobile phone subscriptions worldwide, with LMICs accounting for over three
CONTENTS
15.1Background and Introduction ......................................................................................... 259 15.2Chapter Objectives ............................................................................................................. 260 15.3 Scramble for mHealth in LMICs ...................................................................................... 260 15.4 Technological Considerations .......................................................................................... 261
15.4.1 Hardware ................................................................................................................ 261 15.4.2Software and the Importance of Localization ................................................... 262 15.4.3End-User Flexibility ............................................................................................... 263
15.5 Environmental Considerations ........................................................................................ 263 15.5.1 Infrastructure and Power Supply ........................................................................ 263 15.5.2 Ethical Implications ...............................................................................................264 15.5.3Creation of Strong Stakeholder Networks ......................................................... 265 15.5.4Cost Considerations ............................................................................................... 266
15.6 Social and Human Capacity Considerations ................................................................. 266 15.6.1 Human Motivation and Human Capacity ......................................................... 266 15.6.2 Human Technical Capacity .................................................................................. 267 15.6.3Literacy Rates ......................................................................................................... 267 15.6.4Human Resources for Health ............................................................................... 268 15.6.5 Human Capacity for mHealth Monitoring and Evaluation ............................ 268
15.7 Case Studies ........................................................................................................................ 269 15.8 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................... 270 Questions ...................................................................................................................................... 271 References ..................................................................................................................................... 271 Further Reading .......................................................................................................................... 275
quarters of these subscriptions. This represents a mobile penetration rate of 90% across all LMICs, with Africa expected to have apenetration rate of almost 70% by the end of 2014 (International Telecommunications Union, 2014). Carving their niche as one of the world’s most ubiquitous modern technologies, mobile phones are now more accessible than to a bank account, electricity, a toilet, or clean water (World Bank 2012).
