Health has been identified as a key area where the mobile industry can make a difference in the Middle East, reports TNW Middle East. Citing a recent survey by the UAE’s Mobile Show, 93 percent of industry respondents believe the mobile health industry can improve the quality and availability of healthcare in the region.

However, several obstacles were identified, including patient and doctor confidence (the main concern according to 73 percent of respondents), privacy (53 percent), security (48 percent), high costs (39 percent), network infrastructure (37 percent) and technology (30 percent).

The report cites several mHealth initiatives underway in the Middle East. These include Faselty, an app which aims to make it easy to connect blood donors with people in need on the go; Es3efny, which provides communication between ambulances and hospitals using the Android platform in Egypt; a mobile service launched by the Qatar government designed to make it easy for users to find and connect with doctors; and Egyptian operator’s Mobinil’s Mobile Baby, a service which allows doctors to send ultrasound images, videos and 3D scans directly from ultrasound machines to mobile phones.