Implementing mHealth in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: What Should Program Implementers Consider?

Growing interest within the health-care sector to capitalize on the widespread uptake of mobile communication technologies combined with rapid improvements in telecommunicationsinfrastructure in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) has resulted in adramaticincrease of mHealth initiatives in recent years (Collins 2012, Purkayastha et al. 2013). The International Telecommunications Union estimates that in 2014 there are almost 7 billion mobile phone subscriptions worldwide, with LMICs accounting for over three quarters of these subscriptions. This represents a mobile penetration rate of 90% across all LMICs, with Africa expected to have apenetration rate of almost 70% by the end of 2014 (International Telecommunications Union, 2014). Carving their niche as one of the world’s most ubiquitous modern technologies, mobile phones are now more accessible than to a bank account, electricity, a toilet, or clean water (World Bank 2012).