mHealth Applications in the

Ministry of Health : Today and Tomorrow.

128TH ANNIVERSARY INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CONGRESS
SYMPOSIUM ON
EMERGING USE OF MOBILE TECHNOLOGY IN HEALTH
7 T H JULY 2015

Dr. Chaminda Weerabaddana

Medical Officer (Heath Informatics)
Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka.

CONTRIBUTION OF
STATE HEALTH SERVICES
Allopathic healthcare delivery in Sri Lanka by state sector
Preventive

- 100%

Curative - Inpatient

- 95%

- Outpatient - 50%
Annual Health Bulletin 2012 [Internet]. Ministry of Health; 2014. Available from:
http://www.health.gov.lk/en/publication/AHB-2012/Annual%20Health%20Bulletin%20%202012.pdf

Most Sri Lankans live within 3 kilometers of a public health care

facility
Rannan-Eliya, Ravi P., and Lankani Sikurajapathy. "Sri Lanka:Good practice in expanding
health care coverage."Good practices in health financing: lessons from reforms in low-and
middle-income countries. Washington, DC: World Bank(2008): 311-54.

MOBILE TELECOM SERVICES IN SRI

LANKA
Sri Lanka is having 5 mobile operators
with over 98% Percentage of total population
covered by a mobile network signal(1)
With 107 Mobile Subscription per 100 people(1)

Sri Lanka has a good potential for using

mHealth solutions to improve the health
of its citizens.
1. Bilbao-Osorio B, Dutta S, Lanvin B, Insead, World Economic Forum. The global information technology report
2013 growth and jobs in a hyperconnected world [Internet]. Geneva, Switzerland: World Economic Forum;
2013 [cited 2015 Jun 15]. Available from: http://www3.weforum.org/docs/WEF_GITR_Report_2013.pdf
2. Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka, Statistics (December 2014) [Internet].
Telecommunications Regulatory Commission of Sri Lanka; 2014. Available from:
http://www.trc.gov.lk/images/docs/statis_dec2014final.docx

mHEALTH
no standardized definition of mHealth has been established.
The Global Observatory for eHealth (GOe) defined mHealth or mobile health
as medical and public health practice supported by mobile devices,
such as mobile phones, patient monitoring devices, personal digital
assistants (PDAs), and other wireless devices.
or
use of mobile and wireless technologies to support the achievement of
health objectives
http://www.who.int/goe/en/

CATEGORIES OF mHEALTH SERVICES

1. Communication between individuals
and health service

4. Inter-sectoral communication in
emergencies

health call centres

managing emergencies and disasters

Emergency toll-free telephone services

5. Health monitoring and surveillance

2. Communication between health

services and individuals

patient monitoring
surveillance

Appointment reminders

health surveys and data collection

community mobilization and health

promotion

6. Access to information for health care

professional at point of care

treatment compliance

mobile patient records

Health awareness raising

information access

3. Consultation between health care

professionals

7. Heath Administrative Services

decision support systems

mHEALTH SERVICES PATTERN

WORLDWIDE
The majority of WHO Member States (83%) reported offering
at least one type of mHealth service.
Many countries offered four to six programmes.
mHealth Service Category

Frequency

Health call centres

59%

Emergency toll-free telephone

services

55%

Managing emergencies and

disasters

54%

Mobile telemedicine

49%

Kay, Misha, Jonathan Santos, and Marina Takane. "mHealth: New horizons for health
through mobile technologies."World Health Organization(2011): 66-71.

TYPES OF mHEALTH SERVICES

The type of mHealth services that can be delivered varies with the
type of handset used.

1-9-5-9 SHORT CODE

National Hospital of Sri Lanka
Started 2014 August
Infrastructure
Digital telephone system
IVR
Staff telephone operators and nursing
officers
Health education, poison related
information, clinic information, etc.

SUWASARIYA / HEALTH NET

Health Education Bureau
Launched November 2011
Free medical advice and health
information
Through
website http//www.suwasariya.gov.lk)
Call center 0710 107 107

Behavior and psychiatry disorders

18%

Kidney and genitourinary disorders

14%

Musculo skeletal disorders

8%

Year

2012

2013

2014
(first 6
months)

Calls
received

379

348

1079

Sex

Male

Female

Utilization

58%

42%

Kulatunga, Gumindu GAK, et al. "Understanding the Tele-health needs of Suwsariya (Health Net) users." Indian
Association for Medical Informatics 91 (2014): 96.

1-1-0 EMERGENCY LINE

Service established by the Ministry of Local
Government and Provincial Councils (CMC)
Calls received in a call center (Maradana)
Emergencies informed to local services
maintained by UC/MC/etc.
Service available in ; Colombo , Kalutara ,
Negombo , Kandy , Jaffna , Badulla ,
Bandarawela , Anuradhapura , Matara ,
Tangalle.
5 Ambulances to Colombo
1 ambulance each for other stations

MOBITEL mCHANNELING
FOR PUBLIC SECTOR HOSPITALS
0711370370
Partners ;
Ministry of Health (WP)
District Hospital Dompe
Base Hospital Avissawella
Presidential Secretariat
Mobitel (Pvt.) Ltd.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7t2WUTpFKg

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT INFORMATION

SYSTEM (FOR GRADE MEDICAL OFFICERS)
For health administration
Medical Service II Division of the Ministry of
Health
Automated user registration and password
recovery
Simplify the administrative burden of
issuing 16000 usernames and passwords

PROJECTS IN THE PIPELINE

Health API
Implemented by the Health Information Unit of
the Ministry of Health and the ICTA.
Expose health databases for mobile application
developer through the Lanka Gate API Store.

Ex :
Hospital information with geo coordinates
Clinic details in hospitals
Registered drugs with CDDA

FUTURE SCOPE
Health warnings via SMS based services dengue hotspots
Improve treatment compliance and clinic follow up for TB,
STD, etc.
Health tips for NCD, Antenatal care, etc.
Remote data collection and surveys Eg : NOHS, HDS
Lab results updates to patients from MRI / Regional cluster
labs.
Disease and Epidemic Outbreak Tracking Eg: identify and
out break clusters for prompt action
Smartphone apps Health Education, Pill reminders, BMI
tracking, etc.
Patient Monitoring Eg : Arrhythmia monitoring, Sleep
monitoring with IoT devices
.And many more

Thank you.