Abstract
Mobile health (mHealth) is the provision of health services and information via mobile and wireless technologies. e mobile phone has become ubiquitous in Africa, making mHealth applications an important tool for impacting the health of Africans. When applied appropriately, mHealth can make real contributions to improved health outcomes. mHealth has the potential to address and overcome: (1) disparities in access to health services; (2) inadequacies of the health infrastructure within countries; (3) shortage of human resources for health; (4) high cost of accessing health; and (5) limitations in the availability of financial resources.
This fifth volume of the mHealth Compendium contains 41 case studies submitted by various implementing partners which document a range of mHealth applications being implemented mainly throughout Africa, but also in other regions of the world. In order to help USAID missions access relevant mHealth information, this compendium o ers project descriptions, publication references, and contact information for making further inquiries. Each two-page case study developed by the implementing organization includes an introduction to the health area or problem; a description of the mHealth intervention highlighted; a description of any important results or evaluation findings; lessons learned; and conclusion. In addition, each case study includes a summary of the geographic coverage, implementation partners, donor name(s) and contact(s), as well as contact information for the implementing partner. e case studies in this compendium have been organized within ve programmatic areas: Be- havior Change Communication, Data Collection, Finance, Logistics, and Service Delivery.
The four previous volumes of the mHealth Compendium, which include a total of 116 case studies, can be downloaded at www.africanstrategies4health.org/resources.
Information on applications featured in the mHealth compendiums can also be accessed on ASH’s online mHealth Database. e database facilitates a quick and targeted search for applications based on health area, application type, and location. Visit http://africanstrategies4health.org/mhealth-database.html to start your search.
