Mobile-health technology: Can it Strengthen and improve public health systems of other developing countries as per Indian strategies? A systematic review of the literature

Introduction: The use of mobile-health (m-health) technology in public health is rapidly growing in developing countries. Objective: The objective of this study was to critically analyze the role and incorporation of m-health into public health systems of developing countries. Materials and Methods: A systematic review of related studies in the literature published in the last 10 years on key search word “m-health role in developing countries” was conducted using abstracting databases such as PubMed, World Health Organization, Cochrane, Google scholar and Bio-med Central. m-health studies on impact, effectiveness and evaluation of m-health in public health were the three main criteria’s taken for inclusion and studies on m-health in developed world as well data from thesis/dissertation were excluded in this review. This study is unique in methodology as similar kind of studies with this type of method and focus has not been carried out previously in the literature. Results and Discussion: From 23 articles, which finally met the inclusion criteria it was found that, a variety of m-health applications and m-health strategies are available in the mobile phone market of developing countries; however, lack of appropriate governmental regulation and oversight from health-care authorities are impacting the results in terms of costs, benefits and utility of these applications. Conclusions: m-health technology has the potential to impact greater health-care access to larger segments of rural populations and an improved capacity to meet the demand in developing countries as seen from Indian strategies, provided it is also intelligently used for improving health-care of people in developing countries.