Health in India: Reality & challenges

There has been a growing interest within the health sector to capitalize on the rapid uptake of mobile communication technologies across the globe. In India, over 1 million patients die each year as a result of not having access to a proper healthcare. The usage of mobile technology has promised as an effective tool to facilitate healthcare related activities in many settings in various parts of the world. India is racing to the second place with largest wireless network worldwide only next to China. According to the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), India has crossed the 250 million mark in terms of mobile subscribers in Feb 2008. It is visible that the cost of mobile technology deployment is increasingly going down. However, the number of initiatives to promote mhealth is well below the expectations. Ericsson, the Swedish mobile phones manufacturer has announced its recent mhealth plans for India in collaboration with the Apollo Telemedicine Networking Foundation, the ATNF. This will allow millions of Indians from the rural areas of the country to have access to professional healthcare. With the number of mobile phone subscribers and the interests towards mhealth services are on the steady rise, the scaling up of many such initiatives is the need of the hour. It is no wonder that the deployment of m-health technology will be of great use not only in India but also in the health systems of other south Asian countries.