mHealth: New horizons for Health Through Mobile technologies

Acknowledgments This report would not have been possible without the input of the Observatory’s extensive network of eHealth experts and the support of numerous colleagues at the World Health Organization headquarters, regional, and country offices. Sincere thanks are due to over 800 eHealth experts in 114 countries worldwide who assisted with the design, implementation, and completion of the second global survey. Special thanks to the many authors and reviewers who contributed their expertise to this publication including: Patricia Mechael, Nadi Kaonga, and Hima Batavia from the Center for Global Health and Economic Development at the Earth Institute, Columbia University for their significant contributions to this report; Hani Eskandar of the International Telecommunication Union for his detailed advice on security issues in mHealth Deployment; Joan Dzenowagis for serving as a primary reviewer; and Lilia Perez-Chavolla for writing the case studies. We would like to thank the following professionals who contributed to the case studies. In Bangladesh – Abul Kalam Azad, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare of Bangladesh; Cambodia – Ly Sovann, Ministry of Health of Cambodia; Canada – Kim Fraser, First Nations Inuit Health, Saskatchewan; Deborah Kupchanko, First Nations Inuit Health, Saskatchewan; Christine Labaty, Health Canada; Shirley Woods, Northern Inter-Tribal Health Authority; Ghana – Samuel Quarshie, Ghana Health Service; Eric Woods, Switchboard; Sodzi Sodzi-Tettey, Ghana Medical Association; and Senegal – Adele Waugaman, United Nations Foundation. Guidance for this report was provided by Najeeb Al-Shorbaji, Director of Knowledge Management and Sharing at WHO. The report was reviewed by David Aylward, Chris Bailey, Peter Benjamin, Alison Bloch, Garrett Mehl, Robin Miller, Neil Pakenham-Walsh, Getachew Sahlu, Chaitali Sinha, and Diana Zandi. We are grateful for the financial support and collaboration of our partners: the Rockefeller Foundation, United Nations Foundation, and mHealth Alliance. We acknowledge the important role of our partner organization, the International Telecommunication Union, in the global deployment of mHealth. Special thanks to Jillian Reichenbach Ott for the design and layout, and Kai Lashley for editing. The global survey and this report were prepared and managed by the WHO Global Observatory for eHealth: Misha Kay, Jonathan Santos, and Marina Takane.