Life in your hands

It wasn't too long ago that the mobile phone was a luxury, a brick-sized contraption that could only make calls. These days, not only is it pervasive - with 5.9 billion cellular subscriptions worldwide or a global penetration of 87 per cent - but the mobile phone has also taken on many new functions. Of these, its role as a health care tool has attracted particular attention in recent years.

Innovative advances in the use of mobile technology in health care have evolved into a new field called mobile health, or 'mHealth', which is medical and public health practice supported by mobile devices, such as mobile phones, patient monitoring devices, personal digital assistants and other wireless devices.

'Mobile health is a very broad opportunity; what can be deployed can vary from basic SMS [short message service] and phone calls to more advanced technologies,' says Jeanine Vos, head of mobile health at GSMA, an organisation working with more than 800 mobile network operators globally to develop mobile solutions.

The field's potential is certainly being recognised. The UN included mHealth as a key innovation to achieve the goals outlined in the Global Strategy for Women and Children's Health launched in New York in September 2010, while the World Health Organisation included a module on mHealth in the 2009 global eHealth survey.

As the WHO puts it: 'The use of mobile and wireless technologies to support the achievement of health objectives has the potential to transform the face of health service delivery across the globe.'

In Hong Kong alone, there are more than 14.4 million mobile phone subscriptions - more than double the number of people in the city - according to the regulator, the Office of the Telecommunications Authority. Although not widespread, there have been a number of mHealth initiatives here.