This paper will examine new applications of mobile and wireless technologies to the challenges of public health in the developing world, particularly the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). After a brief review of initiatives underway in Africa and India, the bulk of the paper will describe a national HIV/AIDS information system currently under development in Rwanda.
This system relies on a combination of internet technology and traditional telephony (both fixed and wireless) to connect even the most remote rural health clinics. Potential merits of this system will be examined in light of Heeks’ (2002) review of information systems projects in developing nations. This analysis will suggest that certain fundamental properties of wireless/mobile technologies are likely to increase the efficacy, scalability, and sustainability of public health information systems in low teledensity settings.
The paper applies both to the “mobile technologies for disadvantaged persons” as well as to the “doctors communicating with doctors” tracks. However, given the severity of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and given its particular impact on the LDCs, it is important to consider these applications as critical tools in what can only be described as one of the biggest and most protracted “health care emergencies” the world has ever confronted.
This paper will examine new applications of mobile and wireless technologies to the challenges of public health in the developing world, particularly the Least Developed Countries (LDCs). After a brief review of initiatives underway in Africa and India, the bulk of the paper will describe a national HIV/AIDS information system currently under development in Rwanda.
This system relies on a combination of internet technology and traditional telephony (both fixed and wireless) to connect even the most remote rural health clinics. Potential merits of this system will be examined in light of Heeks’ (2002) review of information systems projects in developing nations. This analysis will suggest that certain fundamental properties of wireless/mobile technologies are likely to increase the efficacy, scalability, and sustainability of public health information systems in low teledensity settings.
The paper applies both to the “mobile technologies for disadvantaged persons” as well as to the “doctors communicating with doctors” tracks. However, given the severity of the HIV/AIDS pandemic, and given its particular impact on the LDCs, it is important to consider these applications as critical tools in what can only be described as one of the biggest and most protracted “health care emergencies” the world has ever confronted.
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