I’m posting this from the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona at the launch of a report that attempts to define mHealth; outlines the potential for mobile phones to improve health in the developing world; identifies building blocks for successful, sustainable and scalable mHealth programs; demonstrates the incentives for multiple players in the ‘mHealth value chain’; and details 51 examples of projects providing health-related services via mobile technology including…

1. Freedom HIV/AIDS Project, India. REF 1, REF 2.

2. Learning about Living, Nigeria. REF 1, REF 2, REF 3, REF 4, REF 5, REF 6, REF 7.

3. HIV/AIDS Video Distribution by Mobile Phone, Georgia. REF 1.

4. HIV Confidant, South Africa. REF 1, REF 2.

5. Project Masiluleke, South Africa. REF 1, REF 2, REF 3, REF 4.

6. Text to Change (TTC) – HIV Prevention through SMS Quiz, Uganda. REF 1.

7. Cell-PREVEN, Peru. REF 1, REF 2, REF 3.

8. Community Accessible and Sustainable Health System (Ca:sh), India. REF 1, REF 2, REF 3.

9. Community Health Information Tracking System (CHITS), Philippines. REF 1, REF 2, REF 3, REF 4.

10. Dokoza System, South Africa. REF 1, REF 2, REF 3.

11. EpiHandy, Uganda, Zambia, Burkina Faso. REF 1, REF 2.

12. EpiSurveyor, Kenya, Uganda, Zambia (and 20 countries in sub-Saharan Africa by end of 2008). REF 1, REF 2, REF 3.

13. Integrated Healthcare Information Service through Mobile Telephony (IHISM), Botswana. . REF 1, REF 2, REF 3, REF 4.

14. Media Lab Asia – Shared Resource for Rural Health Management and Information Infrastructure. REF 1.

15. Mobile-Based Primary Healthcare Management System, India. REF 1, REF 2.

16. Map of Medicine for Kijabe Hospital, Kenya. REF 1, REF 2.

17. Nokia Data Gathering, Brazil. REF 1.

18. PDAs for Malaria Monitoring, Mozambique. REF 1, REF 2.

19. Phones for Health, Rwanda. REF 1.

20. TRACnet, Rwanda. REF 1, REF 2, REF 3.

21. Cell-Life Project, South Africa. REF 1, REF 2, REF 3.

22. Chinese Aged Diabetic Assistant (CADA), China. REF 1, REF 2, REF 3, REF 4.

23. Colecta-PALM, Peru. REF 1, REF 2, REF 3.

24. Mashavu: Networked Health Solutions for the Developing World, Tanzania. REF 1, REF 2.

25. MediNet Healthcare Management System, Trinidad and Tobago. REF 1.

26. Mobile Care, Support and Treatment Manager (MCST), India. REF 1, REF 2.

27. Mobile Phones for Health Monitoring, India and the United Kingdom. REF 1, REF 2.

28. Phoned Pill Reminders for TB Treatment, Thailand. REF 1, REF 2.

29. SIMpill Solution for TB, South Africa. REF 1, REF 2, REF 3.

30. Virtual Health Pet, Brazil. REF 1, REF 2.

31. Enhancing Nurses Access for Care Quality and Knowledge through Technology (ENACQKT), the Caribbean

32. HealthLine, Pakistan. REF 1, REF 2, REF 3.

33. Mobile HIV/AIDS Support, Uganda. REF 1.

34. Primary Healthcare Nursing Promotion Program, Guatemala. REF 1, REF 2.

35. Uganda Health Information Network (UHIN), Uganda. REF 1, REF 2, REF 3.

36. Acute Encephalitis Syndrome Surveillance Information System (AESSIMS), India. REF 1, REF 2, REF 3.

37. Alerta DISAMAR, Peru. REF 1, REF 2, REF 3.

38. FrontlineSMS, Worldwide. REF 1, REF 2, REF 3.

39. GATHER, Uganda. REF 1, REF 2.

40. Handhelds for Health, India. REF 1.

41. Remote Interaction, Consultation, and Epidemiology (RICE), Vietnam. REF 1, REF 2.

42. Tamil Nadu Health Watch, India. REF 1, REF 2.

43. Cell Phone Applications for Clinical Diagnostic Therapeutic and Public Health Use by Front Line Healthcare Workers, Mozambique. REF 1, REF 2.

44. Digital Inclusion Kit in Health and Higher Education, Argentina. REF 1, REF 2.

45. Ericsson and Apollo Hospitals Initiative, India. REF 1.

46. HIV Mobile Decision Support, South Africa. REF 1, REF 2.

47. M-DOK: Mobile Telehealth and Information Resource System for Community Health Workers, Philippines. REF 1, REF 2, REF 3.

48. Mobile E-IMCI, Tanzania. REF 1, REF 2, REF 3, REF 4.

49. Mobile Telemedicine System, Indonesia. REF 1, REF 2.

50. Nacer, Peru. REF 1, REF 2.

51. Teledoc – Jiva Healthcare Project, India. REF 1.

It also issues a call for action to create of an independent global body to encourage multi-sector and pan-regional collaboration to leverage the transformational power of mobile networks and devices to improve healthcare delivery throughout the developing world.

Find out more about the UN Foundation and The Vodafone Foundation Partnership

Download the FREE report and join in the discussion with your ideas and comments

UPDATE: You might also be interested in the following Mobile World Congress interview with Andrew Dunnett Director of Vodafone Foundation: