Globalisation Health

Article

An open-access debate paper in the journal Globalization and Health by Warren A. Kaplan of Boston University School of Public Health asking whether the ubiquitous reach of mobile phones can be harnessed to improve health outcomes in developing countries. A systematic review of databases including MEDLINE, CINAHL, POPLINE and AIDSearch finds evidence both supporting and refuting mobile telephony’s value as a healthcare intervention, with almost no literature specifically evaluating mobile phones for HIV, TB, malaria or chronic disease management, and only limited, rarely rigorous evidence on the cost-effectiveness of mobile ‘telemedicine’.