Ebola outbreak: Where are the mHealth apps?

Thursday, October 9, 2014

The Ebola outbreak in West Africa and now the U.S. is surely among the most high-profile incidents wherein mobile health technologies could have proven their mettle. While some apps are already effective tools for public health workers, the sense in the industry is that apps are not being leveraged to the fullest extent and that more coordination is needed to use them as an asset.

The Ebola crisis, in fact, is showing a need for healthcare apps to respond to the disease quickly on the ground with point-of-care mobile diagnostics, four Sierra Leone-based doctors wrote recently in The Lancet.

Mobile technologies can offer early warning systems, response to outbreaks and communication among doctors and local officials on the scene and international health authorities, Rashid Ansumana, Jesse Bonwitt, David A. Stenger and Kathryn H. Jacobsen wrote in the article.

Source: mHealth News (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Health Care, Technology
Tags
Base of the Pyramid, healthcare technology, infectious diseases