The recently launched GSMA Mobile Health Tracker featured on this site aims to capture mobile health service launches and deployments across the globe, in both pilot and active phases. To date, the tracker has 204 live deployments and 97 pilots which are either geared towards patients and customers or health system-facing services. Activities are categorised across wellness, awareness, diagnosis, treatment and monitoring, clinician support tools and health information systems. The deployment tracker provides key mobile data and national health indicators as well as details on specific deployments including a summary of activity, key dates as well as organisations and mobile operators.

Based on our current data, Kenya is leading the African continent with 15 deployments (both live and pilot) followed closely by South Africa. There are 21 mobile health deployments in India, 11 in China, 39 in the United States and only three reported in Canada. But why does this information matter and how is it valuable?

One of the most significant challenges faced by the mobile health community is a lack of communication, and the silo-based approaches of practitioners, governments, donors, implementers and mobile operators. Many activities are piloted and launched without an assessment of existing interventions from which best practices, opportunities for collaboration and, perhaps most importantly, lessons from failures are gleaned. While the level of activity across the globe is encouraging, the mobile health community needs to continue to ramp up its communication efforts in order to avoid duplication and encourage innovation in those areas where there are gaps, moving away from “pilotitis” and towards more scalable solutions.

Do you see anything missing? If you are involved or aware of a mobile health project that is not reflected in the Deployment Tracker, please let us know and we will be sure to include it.

Kyla Reid is the knowledge manager for mobile health in the GSMA's Development Fund.

The editorial views expressed in this article are solely those of the author(s) and will not necessarily reflect the views of the GSMA, its Members or Associate Members.