Studies from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in the Area of Noncommunicable Disease Described (Moving the Agenda on…

Studies from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health in the Area of Noncommunicable Disease Described (Moving the Agenda on Noncommunicable Diseases: Policy Implications of Mobile Phone Surveys in Low and Middle-Income ...)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Internet Weekly News -- Investigators discuss new findings in Noncommunicable Disease. According to news reporting originating in Baltimore, Maryland, by VerticalNews journalists, research stated, "The growing burden of noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), for example, cardiovascular diseases and chronic respiratory diseases, in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) presents special challenges for policy makers, due to resource constraints and lack of timely data for decision-making. Concurrently, the increasing ubiquity of mobile phones in LMICs presents possibilities for rapid collection of population-based data to inform the policy process."

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from the Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health, "The objective of this paper is to highlight potential benefits of mobile phone surveys (MPS) for developing, implementing, and evaluating NCD prevention and control policies. To achieve this aim, we first provide a brief overview of major global commitments to NCD prevention and control, and subsequently explore how countries can translate these commitments into policy action at the national level. Using the policy cycle as our frame of reference, we highlight potential benefits of MPS which include (1) potential cost-effectiveness of using MPS to inform NCD policy actions compared with using traditional household surveys; (2) timeliness of assessments to feed into policy and planning cycles; (3) tracking progress of interventions, hence assessment of reach, coverage, and distribution; (4) better targeting of interventions, for example, to high-risk groups; (5) timely course correction for suboptimal or non-effective interventions; (6) assessing fairness in financial contribution and financial risk protection for those affected by NCDs in the spirit of universal health coverage (UHC); and (7) monitoring progress in reducing catastrophic medical expenditure due to chronic health conditions in general, and NCDs in particular."

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: "MPS have potential to become a powerful data collection tool to inform policies that address public health challenges such as NCDs. Additional forthcoming assessments of MPS in LMICs will inform opportunities to maximize this technology."

For more information on this research see: Moving the Agenda on Noncommunicable Diseases: Policy Implications of Mobile Phone Surveys in Low and Middle-Income Countries. Journal of Medical Internet Research, 2017;19(5):e115. Journal of Medical Internet Research can be contacted at: Journal of Medical Internet Research, Toronto General Hospital, R Fraser Elliott Bldg, 4TH FL, R 4S435, 190 Elizabeth St, Toronto, on M5G 2C4, Canada.

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting G.W. Pariyo, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Dept. of International Health, Baltimore, MD, United States. Additional authors for this research include A.C. Wosu, D.G. Gibson, A.B. Labrique, J. Ali and A.A Hyder.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.2196/jmir.7302. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase.

The publisher of the Journal of Medical Internet Research can be contacted at: Journal of Medical Internet Research, Toronto General Hospital, R Fraser Elliott Bldg, 4TH FL, R 4S435, 190 Elizabeth St, Toronto, on M5G 2C4, Canada.

Keywords for this news article include: Maryland, Baltimore, Epidemiology, United States, Investment and Finance, Noncommunicable Disease, North and Central America.

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