The use of mobile technology for public health has expanded greatly in the last decade. Mobile phone penetration has grown globally, and particularly within low- and middle- income countries (LMICs), presenting an opportunity to augment routine health surveillance programs. Under the Bloomberg Data for Health initiative, Johns Hopkins mHealth researchers and several LMIC and global health partners are developing basic mobile phone-based surveys of non-communicable disease (NCD) risk factors utilizing various survey modalities (e.g., text messaging, interactive voice response and computer assisted telephone interviews) to better understand NCD burdens globally.
The increasing use of such technology in LMICs brings forth a cluster of ethical challenges; however, much of the existing literature regarding the ethics of mobile or digital health focuses on the use of technologies in high-income countries or does not consider directly the specific ethical issues associated with the conduct of NCD mobile phone surveys in LMICs. This session will introduce ongoing Johns Hopkins NCD mobile phone survey research and development activities, explore several of the central ethics issues that arise when conducting mobile phone surveys of NCD risk factors in LMICs, and present some preliminary data on attitudes of key stakeholders towards the emerging issues.
