LIVE FROM GSMA-mHA MOBILE HEALTH SUMMIT 2012:  Operator Telenor believes the smartphone has become a critical tool amongst doctors but the mobile health industry must also make more use of standard feature phones.

Smartphones are “the hottest thing among doctors since the stethoscope,” claimed Ola Jo Tandre of Telenor’s Group Corporate Responsibility unit, this morning. “However, feature phones will be key to combat diseases. We cannot sit and wait for smartphones to pick up and have more users, we need to do something with feature phones in the short-term perspective.”

Tandre said it is essential for the industry to take “more bold and courageous decisions, more pilots, more risks. If we don’t take risks I don’t see how we will deliver on the Millennium Development Goals [MDGs].”

Addressing the issue of the MDGs, he highlighted Pakistan as one country that is struggling to achieve the targets around reducing child mortality, improving maternal health, and combating diseases such as HIV/AIDS and Malaria.

However, the overall tone of Tandre’s presentation was positive, citing the benefits of mobile health (“reduce costs of elderly care by 25 percent, save mothers and children by reducing maternal and perinatal mortality by 30 percent, reach twice as many rural patients per doctor, and improve TB treatment compliance by 30-70 percent") and the role that an operator such as Telenor can play (“a facilitator”).