Why mobile health works

After 20 years of living and working in the US, Kazi Islam, CEO of Grameenphone IT, decided to return home to his native Bangladesh. Part of his motivation was to take part in the innovation occurring in developing nations such as his own, and to play a role in bridging the gap between technological capabilities and the diverse urgencies present in emerging economies.

While in the US, Kazi built a network of fellow entrepreneurs and social innovators to help connect technologies to the actual issues and challenges that countries such as Bangladesh face; issues such as insufficient healthcare solutions for the country’s 160 million residents.

Making mobile health a priority

“Mobile phones play a role in bridging the gap between innovation and healthcare needs. Today there are more than five billion mobile users around the globe and virtually anything can be done through the mobile,” said Kazi.

Mobile health has long been a priority issue for Kazi and he hopes that many mobile innovations can be served through Grameenphone and Grameenphone IT.

Finding feasible solutions to healthcare problems

“Today in Bangladesh, you will find about one doctor for every four thousand residents. The ratio between hospitals and patients is also horrific. But building more hospitals and creating more doctors are not the immediate answers. All the money and all the ideas are not going to fix these problems overnight. We need solutions that are feasible, immediate and complementary to the current health eco-system,” explained Kazi.

A complementary service means that instead of building hospitals in every village, you can use mobile technology to improve doctor-patient access. According to Kazi, there are five main types of healthcare services. These services are all made possible by the mobile phones; they are complementary to the current system; and they are highly feasible through partnerships between telecom companies such as Grameenphone and health service providers.

Five ways that mobile health can work:

1. One-way communication – Using SMS, the government or organizations can alert citizens to a pandemic, warning people to avoid drinking the contaminated water for example.
2. Two-way communication – Health providers looking for people with certain symptoms can send surveys via SMS. The patients complete the survey and respond.
3. Disaster management – The mobile phone serves as a tool in times of crisis, helping to organize doctor placement and medicine distribution. Also, it serves as a channel for sharing news before it hits the airwaves.
4. Tracking and monitoring – Auto-reminders and notifications are made easier with the mobile phone. For example, a patient may be forced to travel a great distance to receive care and medication. An SMS alert can be sent to that patient if a doctor or the medication is unavailable, to avoid unnecessary travel and expense. Solutions can also remind people about their dosage or next visit.
5. Diagnostics – Currently, there are innovations to analyze saliva through a small device attached to the back of the phone in order to identify a potentially harmful virus. Also, a portable ultrasound machine hooked up to the mobile phone is capable of sending necessary basic information on an expectant mother to the nearest doctor.

Successful mHealth services

“Globally, several hundred successful mHealth solutions are in use. While we have not developed services in every category, there are a number of mobile health initiatives that Grameenphone has already successfully implemented in Bangladesh. Grameenphone will continue to address people’s need through innovation in the communities it serves,” said Kazi.

Grameenphone cares

Grameenphone’s Healthline service is first line of care for many residents in Bangladesh. Grameenphone has also undertaken safe motherhood and infant care initiatives, as well as a simple SMS solution to help government of Bangladesh to spread awareness about immunizations.

“Helping people through mobile services is our ambition and is an integral part of our strategy. It is part of our mandate to make life easy and stay close to our customers. The mobile platform opens up numerous doors for innovation and bringing necessary services to people,” said Kazi.

Grameenphone continues to innovate

“Grameenphone always has been at the cutting edge of innovation in Bangladesh and we will continue to develop new ideas to improve people’s lives. Through the creation of Grameenphone IT, Grameenphone has shown significant commitment to help Bangladesh,” said Kazi. “Healthcare is a huge challenge in Bangladesh and Grameenphone will continue to play an important role in easing the burden on the healthcare through technology and innovation.”