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Mobile health, or 'mHealth', is the application of mobile devices, their components and related technologies to healthcare. It is already improving patients' access to treatment and advice. Now, in combination with internet-connected diagnostic devices, it offers novel ways to diagnose, track and control infectious diseases and to improve the efficiency of the health system. Here we examine the promise of these technologies and discuss the challenges in realizing their potential to increase patients' access to testing, aid in their treatment and improve the capability of public health authorities to monitor outbreaks, implement response strategies and assess the impact of interventions across the world.

Original publication

DOI

10.1038/s41586-019-0956-2

Type

Journal article

Journal

Nature

Publication Date

02/2019

Volume

566

Pages

467 - 474

Keywords

Communicable Disease Control, Communicable Diseases, Contact Tracing, Data Analysis, Disease Outbreaks, Humans, Point-of-Care Systems, Public Health, Smartphone, Telemedicine