LIRNEasia‘s m-health research pilot project has been featured in the October 2010 issue of FutureGov Asia Pacific magazine. Led by Nuwan Waidyanatha, the project explores the use of mobile phones for early detection of communicable diseases in selected cities in India and Sri Lanka.
The full article can be downloaded here or read below:
Sri Lanka has completed the trial of a mobile phone project which helps early detection of communicable diseases. The ‘Real-time Bio-surveillance Programme’ allows data on patients and symptoms of illnesses to be sent directly from hospital wards to the epidemiological centre through a web interface installed on mobile phones. Under the present manual system, set up in the 19th century, it can take more than two weeks for information of outbreaks to reach the epidemiological centre in the capital. As a result, officials first learn about the outbreak through the media. The mobile system allows quick analysis to identify disease patterns to be made before the outbreak spreads.
-FutureGov Asia Pacific, October 2010, p. 47
2 Comments
Sumedha Chandrarathna
In the Srilankan context mobiles mostly used for Voice and Tex messaging, First of all there should be a program for mobile data services awareness.