As we all know by now, mobile phone use is skyrocketing.  In Columbia, for example, there are more mobile subscribers per 100 inhabitants than in the US (92 vs 87 as of 2008 data)! And in Africa, about 40% of the population owns a mobile phone –  from essentially zero ownership 10 years ago. 

There is a lot of talk these days about "mHealth", but there's another way that mobiles are affecting health: as a labor-saving device.

The GSMA, which represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry, today presented His Excellency Mr. Samuel Poghisio, Minister for Information and Communications for Kenya, with the mobile industry’s prestigious annual Government Leadership Award. The Award recognises the leadership role played by Kenya in extending the benefits of mobile technology to more consumers by cutting tax on mobile phones and information communication technology (ICT) equipment and promoting the early roll-out of mobile broadband.

The GSMA, which represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry, and the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, a charity that supports women entrepreneurs published 'Women and Mobile: A Global Opportunity'. The details of the report were reported by Forbes in this article.

Some of the interesting findings from the report include:

I had missed this article by medical writer David Brown from last January 12th's Washington Post, discussing the rise of the mobile phone, and its impact on phone-based polling for epidemiology and other research. Fascinating, especially in looking at the demographic differences that mark those who are in "cellphone only" households (more likely to be young, male, and Hispanic). Worth reading, especially as we approach the point of practicality for phone-based polling in developing countries:

In this Story, surgeons give live updates on knee surgery via Twitter. After reading the story I began wondering how we could utilize social networks, (mobile or otherwise) to improve health care in my country. I began thinking about health education for health consumers and health providers. We can actually use social networking tools like Facebook, Myspace and Twitter to provide healthcare information to a large population by just a click ("click to educate").