The Future of Mobile Data Usage in Global Health
Today a child is more likely to live past infancy, her mother is less likely to die during child birth, and a country experiencing an outbreak is more likely to recover from it faster than ever before. Recognizing these truths is not complacent or triumphalist — there is still much work to do — but it is an acknowledgement that the word is changing. Data has played a big role in creating this change.
During the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa back in 2014, Flowminder used cell phone data to analyze how people were moving. This was important given the fact that Ebola is transmitted by human contact, which means that knowing when and how people are moving around can provide great insight to practitioners trying to stem the outbreak. At the same time, relief agencies used this data to deliver the right supplies to the right people at the right time.
A map using anonymous cell phone data shows how people move from various urban centers in West Africa. Credit: Flowminder, 2014
The rise of data is largely attributed to the rise of mobile phone usage in the developing world. In 2015, the Pew Research Center discovered that in Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania, 65%, 82% and 73% of the total population owned mobile phones, respectively. High percentages of cell phone ownership indicate that we can expect increased reliance on data in global health.
Apart from tracking movements to curb disease outbreaks, mobile phone data and in this case, text message data, can be analyzed to identify causes of infant or maternal deaths. In Rwanda, RapidSMS-MCH system, a new communication and alert system, is being used by Community Health Workers (CHWs) to support newly registered pregnant women in their communities. The system includes registration, effective monitoring, and appropriate care of women from pregnancy up to delivery and through the postpartum period. It enables effective and real-time two-way communication between CHWs and the health system, including emergency transport services.
In Darfur, the Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization, and partners have developed a mobile phone-based infectious disease surveillance system designed for use where resources and facilities may be limited. Traditional pen-and-paper methods of disease reporting are not efficient or practical in complex emergencies in developing countries. Instead, reporting formats can be provided on mobile phones, making it easy for health providers to enter data and send reports. Such a system will help reduce errors, decrease the time used in reporting, and facilitate compliance with reporting schedules.
As a 2015–2016 Global Health Fellow with IntraHealth International, I regularly interacted with the Human Resource Information System (HRIS). HRIS is a free, open source software that facilitates the management of health workforce information. Tools like HRIS supply health sector leaders with the information they need to assess human resource problems and plan and evaluate interventions. The system enables managers to make informed decisions about some of the essential nuts and bolts of providing quality healthcare.
Data is clearly helping to strengthen health systems, improve disease detection, and expand prevention efforts — all of which are critical to improving the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities. Information and communications technology has the potential to impact almost every aspect of the health sector.
