Using Mobile Phone Data to Reduce Spread of Disease

Milusheva, Sveta

World Bank, Washington, DC

关键词: HEALTH;    PUBLIC HEALTH;    DISEASE CONTROL;    EPIDEMICS;    MOBILE PHONE;   

DOI  :  10.1596/1813-9450-9198
RP-ID  :  WPS9198

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: World Bank Open Knowledge Repository

【 摘 要 】

While human mobility has importantbenefits for economic growth, it can generate negativeexternalities. This paper studies the effect of mobility onthe spread of disease in a low-incidence setting when peopledo not internalize their risks to others. Using malaria as acase study and 15 billion mobile phone records across ninemillion SIM cards, this paper causally quantifies therelationship between travel and the spread of disease. Theestimates indicate that an infected traveler contributes to1.7 additional cases reported in the health facility at thetraveler's destination. This paper develops asimulation-based policy tool that uses mobile phone data toinform strategic targeting of travelers based on theirorigins and destinations. The simulations suggest thattargeting informed by mobile phone data could reduce thecaseload by 50 percent more than current strategies thatrely only on previous incidence.