The Case for mHealth in Developing Countries

While the health community debates whether a specialized field of "mHealth" exists and how to define it, most people will agree that individuals around the world are using mobile technologies to access health services and information and that health professionals are formally and informally integrating mobile technologies into public health and clinical activities. As mobile phones and other mobile devices become part of everyday life, people become better equipped to respond to emergencies, consult with peers and health professionals about health issues as they arise, and access health services that are increasingly being delivered through mobile phone based systems, such as remote patient monitoring. In developing countries, people frequently acquire mobile phones just in case of emergencies, including a taxi driver I interviewed in Upper Egypt in 2002, who shared the following experience with me: