Malaria diagnosis and mapping with m-Health and geographic information systems (GIS): evidence from Uganda

Malaria Journal

Research

Alberto Larocca¹  Michele Marconi²  Roberto Moro Visconti³ 

[1] Cosmo Ltd., Accra, Ghana;Research and Consulting GIS, Natural Resources Management, Marine Ecology, Disaster Risk Reduction, Hue, Vietnam;Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan, Italy;

关键词: Remote diagnosis;    Malaria mapping;    Mobile phones;    Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs);    Process innovation;    Healthcare;    Information communication technology (ICT);    Geospatial health technology;    Geographic information systems (GIS);   

DOI  :  10.1186/s12936-016-1546-5

 received in 2016-03-11, accepted in 2016-10-05,  发布年份 2016

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundRural populations experience several barriers to accessing clinical facilities for malaria diagnosis. Increasing penetration of ICT and mobile-phones and subsequent m-Health applications can contribute overcoming such obstacles.MethodsGIS is used to evaluate the feasibility of m-Health technologies as part of anti-malaria strategies. This study investigates where in Uganda: (1) malaria affects the largest number of people; (2) the application of m-Health protocol based on the mobile network has the highest potential impact.ResultsAbout 75% of the population affected by Plasmodium falciparum malaria have scarce access to healthcare facilities. The introduction of m-Health technologies should be based on the 2G protocol, as 3G mobile network coverage is still limited. The western border and the central-Southeast are the regions where m-Health could reach the largest percentage of the remote population. Six districts (Arua, Apac, Lira, Kamuli, Iganga, and Mubende) could have the largest benefit because they account for about 28% of the remote population affected by falciparum malaria with access to the 2G mobile network.ConclusionsThe application of m-Health technologies could improve access to medical services for distant populations. Affordable remote malaria diagnosis could help to decongest health facilities, reducing costs and contagion. The combination of m-Health and GIS could provide real-time and geo-localized data transmission, improving anti-malarial strategies in Uganda. Scalability to other countries and diseases looks promising.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© The Author(s) 2016