Disease surveillance and patient care in remote regions: an exploratory study of collaboration among healthcare professionals in Amazonia

The development and deployment of information technology, particularly mobile tools, to support collaboration between different groups of healthcare professionals has been viewed as a promising way to improve disease surveillance and patient care in remote regions. The effects of global climate change combined with rapid changes to land cover and use in Amazonia are believed to be contributing to the spread of vector-borne emerging and neglected diseases. This makes empowering and providing support for local healthcare providers all the more important. We investigate the use of information technology in this context to support professionals whose activities range from diagnosing diseases and monitoring their spread to developing policies to deal with outbreaks. An analysis of stakeholders, their roles and requirements, is presented which encompasses results of fieldwork and of a process of design and prototyping complemented by questionnaires and targeted interviews. Findings are analysed with respect to the tasks of diagnosis, training of local healthcare professionals, and gathering, sharing and visualisation of data for purposes of epidemiological research and disease surveillance. Methodological issues regarding the elicitation of cooperation and collaboration requirements are discussed and implications are drawn with respect to the use of technology in tackling emerging and neglected diseases

How 5G wireless (and concomitant technologies) will revolutionize healthcare?

The need to have equitable access to quality healthcare is enshrined in the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which defines the developmental agenda of the UN for the next 15 years. In particular, the third SDG focuses on the need to “ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages”. In this paper, we build the case that 5G wireless technology, along with concomitant emerging technologies (such as IoT, big data, artificial intelligence and machine learning), will transform global healthcare systems in the near future. Our optimism around 5G-enabled healthcare stems from a confluence of significant technical pushes that are already at play: apart from the availability of high-throughput low-latency wireless connectivity, other significant factors include the democratization of computing through cloud computing; the democratization of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and cognitive computing (e.g., IBM Watson); and the commoditization of data through crowdsourcing and digital exhaust. These technologies together can finally crack a dysfunctional healthcare system that has largely been impervious to technological innovations. We highlight the persistent deficiencies of the current healthcare system and then demonstrate how the 5G-enabled healthcare revolution can fix these deficiencies. We also highlight open technical research challenges, and potential pitfalls, that may hinder the development of such a 5G-enabled health revolution

A health decision support system for rural india

In India and other developing nations, the bulk of the morbidity & mortality is due to commonly occurring communicable diseases & parasitic diseases coupled with malnutrition especially in rural areas. The effective decision making at the top level of any health services mostly depends on the availability of various resources such as human expertise, equipments, and medicine. People die from infectious and/or chronic diseases are the leading causes of death, especially in rural areas. By analyzing mortality, morbidity, and behavioral data, one can attempt to quantify health problems and the behavioral risk factors that contribute to them Hence in a country like India an effective multi disease surveillance system is essential for the General Health Care System to detect an outbreak, monitor the trend, prevent an epidemic & decrease the morbidity & mortality rate of India The proposed DSS is targeting to assist the top management of the State health service which will provide a practical, relatively inexpensive and replicable model of disease surveillance. The proposed system consists of application and management software that support clinical and operational data. The software is designed for multi-site use in individual medical facilities and health workers in remote villages. The disease surveillance data is collected and updated periodically by the health workers to the central database through SMS. This disease surveillance system through SMS will provide real time data and extract the statistical and customized information and even facilitate the prediction of the outbreak of epidemics and report emergencies. It also provides an automatic response messaging through SMS to people regarding basic preventive measures and cures. A smart phone application is built using J2ME which make data transmission error free and secured. The use of SMS as the mode of data transmission will help reduce bureaucratic delays and will automate the task of disease surveillance by providing an inexpensive replacement to the existing trend

Competing by Saving Lives: How Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Companies Create Shared Value in Global Health

This report looks at how pharmaceutical and medical device companies can create shared value in global health by addressing unmet health needs in low- and middle-income countries. Companies have already begun to reap business value and are securing competitive advantages in the markets of tomorrow

mHealth in Developing Countries: Progress Toward Global Health Equity

Global health equity is an elusive goal as developing countries lag behind the developed world in most health outcomes. The growth of mobile networks and mobile phone adoption across the developing world in recent years could lead to effective mHealth programs to reduce those inequities. To understand how this can best be accomplished, we analyze review studies of mHealth initiatives in developing countries and present our findings through a SWOT analysis. The strengths (improved health outcomes, improved treatment quality and adherence), weaknesses (difficult to scale, technical challenges), opportunities (improving equitable health access, enhancing disease control), and threats (mobile technology limitations, cultural variations) of mHealth initiatives in developing countries are discussed. Recommendations to improve mHealth initiatives in developing countries include empowering more women with leadership and technology skills, applying more theory to inform the development and evaluation of mHealth projects, and provisioning more financial support for those initiatives

Emerging cancer incidence, mortality, hospitalisation and associated burden among Australian cancer patients, 1982 - 2014: an incidence-based approach in terms of trends, determinants and inequality

Objective Cancer is a leading killer worldwide, including Australia. Cancer diagnosis leads to a substantial burden on the individual, their family and society. The main aim of this study is to understand the trends, determinants and inequalities associated with cancer incidence, hospitalisation, mortality and its burden over the period 1982 to 2014 in Australia. Settings The study was conducted in Australia. Study design An incidence-based study design was used. Methods Data came from the publicly accessible Australian Institute of Health and Welfare database. This contained 2 784 148 registered cancer cases over the study period for all types of cancer. Erreygers' concentration index was used to examine the magnitude of socioeconomic inequality with regards to cancer outcomes. Furthermore, a generalised linear model was constructed to identify the influential factors on the overall burden of cancer. Results The results showed that cancer incidence (annual average percentage change, AAPC=1.33%), hospitalisation (AAPC=1.27%), cancer-related mortality (AAPC=0.76%) and burden of cancer (AAPC=0.84%) all increased significantly over the period. The same-day (AAPC=1.35%) and overnight (AAPC=1.19%) hospitalisation rates also showed an increasing trend. Further, the ratio (least-most advantaged economic resources ratio, LMR of mortality (M) and LMR of incidence (I)) was especially high for cervix (M/I=1.802), prostate (M/I=1.514), melanoma (M/I=1.325), non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (M/I=1.325) and breast (M/I=1.318), suggesting that survival inequality was most pronounced for these cancers. Socioeconomically disadvantaged people were more likely to bear an increasing cancer burden in terms of incidence, mortality and death. Conclusions Significant differences in the burden of cancer persist across socioeconomic strata in Australia. Policymakers should therefore introduce appropriate cancer policies to provide universal cancer care, which could reduce this burden by ensuring curable and preventive cancer care services are made available to all people

Challenges and opportunities of centrifugal microfluidics for extreme point-of-care testing

The advantages offered by centrifugal microfluidic systems have encouraged its rapid adaptation in the fields of in vitro diagnostics, clinical chemistry, immunoassays, and nucleic acid tests. Centrifugal microfluidic devices are currently used in both clinical and point-of-care settings. Recent studies have shown that this new diagnostic platform could be potentially used in extreme point-of-care settings like remote villages in the Indian subcontinent and in Africa. Several technological inventions have decentralized diagnostics in developing countries; however, very few microfluidic technologies have been successful in meeting the demand. By identifying the finest difference between the point-of-care testing and extreme point-of-care infrastructure, this review captures the evolving diagnostic needs of developing countries paired with infrastructural challenges with technological hurdles to healthcare delivery in extreme point-of-care settings. In particular, the requirements for making centrifugal diagnostic devices viable in developing countries are discussed based on a detailed analysis of the demands in different clinical settings including the distinctive needs of extreme point-of-care settings.ope

Paediatric radiology seen from Africa. Part I: providing diagnostic imaging to a young population

Article approval pendingPaediatric radiology requires dedicated equipment, specific precautions related to ionising radiation, and specialist knowledge. Developing countries face difficulties in providing adequate imaging services for children. In many African countries, children represent an increasing proportion of the population, and additional challenges follow from extreme living conditions, poverty, lack of parental care, and exposure to tuberculosis, HIV, pneumonia, diarrhoea and violent trauma. Imaging plays a critical role in the treatment of these children, but is expensive and difficult to provide. The World Health Organisation initiatives, of which the World Health Imaging System for Radiography (WHIS-RAD) unit is one result, needs to expand into other areas such as the provision of maintenance servicing. New initiatives by groups such as Rotary and the World Health Imaging Alliance to install WHIS-RAD units in developing countries and provide digital solutions, need support. Paediatric radiologists are needed to offer their services for reporting, consultation and quality assurance for free by way of teleradiology. Societies for paediatric radiology are needed to focus on providing a volunteer teleradiology reporting group, information on child safety for basic imaging, guidelines for investigations specific to the disease spectrum, and solutions for optimising imaging in children

Telehealth Support System Using Wireless Technologies: The Case of Ethiopia

Telehealth is an inter-disciplinary area and is basically the delivery of health and medical information and services over large and small distances using electronic information and communication technologies. Broadband wireless services available today, along with more powerful and convenient handheld devices, will enable a transformational change in health management and healthcare with the introduction of real-time monitoring and timely responses to a wide array of patient needs. Further, a network of low-cost sensors and wireless systems help in creating constantly vigilant and pervasive monitoring capability at home and at work. This paper addresses recent efforts in this growing field, including standards, system architectures, and lower layer protocols for body area networks. The paper also suggests the use of cooperative transmission-based strategies for such wireless topologies. Keywords: Telehealth, Telemedicine, Telecare, Wireless Technology. DOI: 10.7176/JIEA/12-2-01 Publication date: November 30th 202