Out of the eight Millennium Development Goals, adopted by 189 nations, four are focused towards Health and Education. This reinforces the fact that health and education are the driving force in development of any nation and if issues in these areas are not addressed, they become hindrance in the economic development. India can be broadly divided into two segments, developing and underdeveloped. As per the census of 2011, 72.2 percent of Indian population resides in rural areas forming a large chunk of underdeveloped India. For transforming the rural India, technology needs to be in the driver seat. Telecom helps to reach in every corner of a nation and goes hand in hand with technology. Telecom’s answer to the burning issues of health and education is mHealth and mEducation respectively.
MHealth is the application of emerging mobile communications and network technologies for health care system. It involves the use of mobile computing, medical sensors and communication technologies for health care. A large segment of the patient population can be treated in their homes and communities, with access to expert care, through mobile technology. As patients consume more resources when they are in hospitals, this will have a significant impact on health economics. In India 33 percent of people living in villages have mobile phones. Hence this becomes a highly untapped segment for the Indian telcos.
Airtel has recently released its mHealth services, which is a SMS based health alert. These alerts are provided by mDhil Health Info Services Pvt Ltd, a Bangalore based start-up that provides healthcare information to the general Indian public mainly through text messaging, but increasingly through mobile web and digital content. Airtel offers 14 different SMS health packs such as Women’s health, Men’s health, Cardiac care, Diabetes etc. Irony is that mEntertainment and mFinance create stand alone products supported by lots of advertising dollars whereas mHealth remains more of a value added service.
Vodafone along with UN Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, cofounded mHealth alliance in 2009 to harness the power of wireless technologies to improve health outcomes in low and middle income countries. Soon after its launch, the mHealth Alliance welcomed GSMA and the U.S. Presidents Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) as Founding Partners. In 2009 Vodafone created the Vodafone Health Solutions business unit, which is located within its Global Enterprise division. The unit is tasked with developing a global portfolio of health-related services. So it was not a surprise for many when Vodafone sold its 5.5% of Indian operation to Indian medical services provider Piramal Healthcare in August 2011. Telecom operator Aircel has tied up with the Apollo Hospital Group to launch a medical consultation on the mobile. The service is called Aircel Apollo Mobile HealthCare. A tie-up between the two companies is not surprising, particularly since the Reddy family of the Apollo Hospitals group owns around 26% stake in the telecom operator.
On the similar lines, Tata Docomo launched Sparsh – a value added service on sexual & reproductive health related issues for its GSM Mobile service subscribers in India. The content of the service is extensively accurate and certified by FPAI (Family Planning Association of India), one of India’s largest sexual and reproductive Health NGO. Tata Indicom launched “Doctor on Call” service in partnership with Healthcare Magic, an Accel Partners funded Tata Indicom, to offer consultation services for Acute and chronic emergency situations. HealthcareMagic connects medical professionals with those seeking consultation: callers are offered consultation with doctors via phone, and the Internet. On the phone, a doctor registers the personal data and medical history of the subscriber, diagnoses the cases, based on whether the issue is acute, chronic and emergency
For the Education sector, mobile connectivity provides an opportunity to offer new ways of teaching and learning that ultimately will improve performance and results whilst at the same time open up new markets for mobile operators across the world. Mobile will increase access to up-to-date materials, will enable collaboration and strengthen learner engagement. All these objectives can be achieved via mEducation. Tata Indicom in 2008 partnered with SNDT Women’s University, Atom Tech (Any Transaction on Mobile), Mumbai, & Indian PCO Teleservices Ltd to develop and disseminate mobile education, an additional vehicle in distance learning, to reach the masses for remote teaching and learning in rural communities and physically challenged. Under this model, the mobile phone undergoes a metamorphosis—from a device that allows you access to voice and text messaging, it transforms into one that helps you access accredited educational content, take mock tests on the move, regardless of geographies or physical constraints.
A new VAS called ‘Tutor On Mobile’ (TOM) was launched by VOICETAP and Tata DOCOMO in July 2011. This VAS was designed to help students to access education information when they are on move. ‘Tutoron Mobile’ (TOM) is loaded with premium educational content and easy learning mechanism. With the help of Knowledge conference call and monetizing their expertise’s experts can provide answers worldwide. The content provided by ‘Tutor on Mobile’ (TOM) are in the form of video, text, images, live interaction, podcast etc.
Nokia and Bharti Airtel joined hands to launch Ovi Life Tools service targeted at providing Airtel's mobile customers with access to relevant content on education. This partnership between India’s largest maker of mobile devices and largest telecom operator represents a wide scale distribution model that will empower Indian masses with improved access to information available in a simple icon based, graphically rich user interface. This initiative includes focused offerings on Learn English, General Knowledge & Exam preparation modules covering State and Central Boards.
As developing nations recognize the potential impact mHealth and mEducation can have on its country’s health care and education system, we will witness a surge in the mHealth and mEducation movement as governments invest significant resources to build and to expand offerings for its citizens. Developing nations don’t have the infrastructure for standard telecommunications, but mobile communication is readily available. Hence, it naturally makes sense to leverage wireless networks to deliver health care in these rural areas. A number of organizations are looking at ways to expand their mHealth offerings in places like India, Africa, and China. In particular, we’re seeing modified versions of telemedicine emerging as cost-effective alternatives to direct patient interaction. Also, with the increasing penetration of smartphones it is believed that the growth of mHealth and mEducation will gain momentum.
Written by : Rahul Singh
MBA TM ( I )
SITM
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