Teaching people about health is just as important as providing it. People who don’t know about safe health can’t access it. However, mobile health and technologies are changing the way the world works. While landline communication technologies in developing countries will never be installed in the same way they are in the United States, cell phones are rapidly becoming commonplace. In Africa more than half of all people have a cell phone. This growth is so rapid that ownership of cell phones has often outstripped personal access to the electricity needed to charge them.
Using these phones to distribute lifesaving health information is known widely as mHealth. It is the Every Child Deserves a 5th Birthday theme for this week. One of the most exciting things about access to technology is the way it tends to reach all levels of society equally. While health effects typically take hold first in the richest parts of society then trickle down, mobile technology gives everyone access to the same information at the same time, so they can use it in the same way. By implementing mobile technologies like SMS texting, using geographical tagging, and sending photos to aid in diagnosis, mHealth can be transformative.
- Visit the Every Child Deserves a 5th Birthday campaign website to learn more.
- Learn more about one USAID-supported mHealth program: Mobile Alliance for Maternal Action (MAMA). MAMA is making a 3-year, $10 million investment to create and strengthen programs in Bangladesh, India, and South Africa and to enhance the global capability of new and existing mobile health information programs for moms.
- Join us for a Twitter Expert Hour on Wednesday, June 6 at 10 a.m. ET. Our experts, Dr. Adam Slote of USAID and Mike Frost of John Snow, Inc., will be answering questions on mHealth and its impact on child survival. Submit questions to @5thBDay or @JSIhealth using #5thBDay or #mHealthChat.
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Photo Source: John Snow, Inc.
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