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Nov 13, 2014
Does Big Data need IoT to Succeed?
The promise of Big Data and analytics in health care tends to rise when there’s an epidemic. Now, it seems that Big Data’s not big enough to stand on its own feet. It needs the help of the Internet of Things (IoT). Together, they’re the Industrial Internet. This is what a report from GE and Accenture seems to show. It’s based on a survey across several sectors.
Nov 12, 2014
You Can’t Save Lives if you Don’t Fight Pneumonia
On this day of reflection and action, let us commemorate the brief lives of the children lost to pneumonia—nearly 1 million every year worldwide—by vowing to support and focus on implementing the Global Action Plan and strengthening countries’ routine health systems in partnership with communities.
The fight against this deadly disease can be won. Children are not dying because effective interventions do not exist; they are dying because these interventions are not readily available for all. To dramatically reduce child mortality, we must achieve high and equitable coverage.
Nov 12, 2014
Moving beyond access to development — immunization reframed
While a focus primarily on inputs can lead to program distortions inconsistent with a broader health development and systems approach, narrow strategies have lately come under scrutiny. Greater attention is being given to strengthening immunization systems capable of routinely reaching infants and other targeted age groups year in and year out.
Nov 10, 2014
African health spending lags despite rapid economic growth
Over the last decade, more than half of sub-Saharan countries have either cut the share of government spending devoted to healthcare, or barely increased it, according to World Health Organization data. In Mozambique, healthcare dropped from 15% of the government budget in 2001 to 9% in 2012.
Nov 6, 2014
Tech Change Course: mHealth – Mobile Phones for Public Health
Many have expressed great interest in becoming better informed consumers and implementers of mHealth. To support this demand, TechChange is pleased to announce its 5th four-week online certificate course on mHealth: Mobile Phones for Public Health. The course will start on November 17th and go until December 12th with unlimited access to the course for an additional 4 months. The course is based on the increasing importance of and and interest in the topic of mobile health (mHealth) as well as the need to develop more skills and exchange of best practices among practitioners in the sector.
Nov 5, 2014
World Health Organization elects new Africa director amid Ebola outbreak
As Ebola continued to burn its way through three West African countries, the World Health Organization on Wednesday elected its next Africa director, Botswana doctor Matshidiso Moeti, a longtime veteran of the U.N. agency.The announcement was made by Senegalese health minister Awa Marie Coll Seck, who chaired the vote during this week’s meeting of WHO Africa’s regional committee in Benin.
Nov 4, 2014
Shaping the Market for Global Health Data
The most valuable currency in global health programs today is accurate and reliable data, but such data—abundant in rich countries—does not exist for most low-income and lower-middle-income countries. And without data on past consumption and unmet needs, program planners and global financiers cannot budget appropriately, pharmaceutical and vaccine companies cannot plan investments, and it is harder to understand how programs are performing and how patients’ needs are changing over time.
Nov 3, 2014
Challenges and Opportunities for mHealth in Kenya
When taking TechChange’s Mobile Phones for Public Health online course with a group of 10 colleagues at PATH, I was curious to learn what mHealth looked like in Kenya and learn what lessons I can apply to my mHealth programs in Bihar, India. As part of my final project for the course, I asked Debjeet Sen, one of my colleagues at PATH based in Kisumu, Kenya, to share his views on the state of mHealth interventions in Kenya.
Nov 2, 2014
What Technology Can Do for Health
Sue Desmond-Hellmann runs the $40 billion Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which is probably best known for investing in the development of drugs and vaccines to fight widespread diseases such as AIDS and malaria. Sam Altman is the president of Y Combinator, one of the best-known technology incubators in Silicon Valley.
Oct 27, 2014
Strengthen routine immunization programs, give mothers a reason to smile
Innovations come in different sizes, shapes and forms, but the best innovations have one thing in common: They make the world a better place to live. Vaccines, which help ensure the good health of billions of people, are one of the most important innovations of the past millennium.