While many Americans view cell phones as indispensable to their social and professional lives, more and more Africans are finding cell phones to be indispensable to good health. In sub-Saharan villages, for example, mobile phones are playing a key role in health care delivery, says Dr. Fay Cobb Payton, an associate professor of information systems and technology in the NC State College of Management.
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"The pervasive use of mobile technology surprised me," she says, noting cellular towers have arrived in many parts of Africa before land lines. "The Internet is an expensive proposition for many areas, but even in the smallest villages, people have mobile phones and use them widely."
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Nurses used to travel to rural villages and bring back notes about each patient, which had to be transcribed before a physician was consulted. Text messages, cell phone pictures, and cell phone video now allow nurses in the field to transmit patient conditions and histories directly to physicians in the clinic for faster consultations.
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"It's not enough to drop technology into an area," she says. "We need to educate patients and physicians on the cost and care benefits and provide ongoing training so they become comfortable with using the technology to improve public health."