Mobile Health in the Developing World: Review of Literature and Lessons From a Case Study

The mHealth trend, which uses mobile devices and associated technology for health interventions, offers unprecedented opportunity to transform the health services available to people across the globe. In particular, the mHealth transformation can be most disruptive in the developing countries, which is often characterized by a dysfunctional public health system. Despite this opportunity, the growth of mHealth in developing countries is rather slow and no existing studies have conducted an in-depth search to identify the reasons. We present a comprehensive report about the factors hindering the growth of mHealth in developing countries. Most importantly, we outline future strategies for making mHealth even more effective. We are also the first to conduct a case study on the public health system of Pakistan showing that mHealth can offer tremendous opportunities for a developing country with a severe scarcity of health infrastructure and resources. The findings of this paper will guide the development of policies and strategies for the sustainable adoption of mHealth not only in Pakistan but also for any developing country in general.