Mobile phones, social networks tapped to fight non-communicable diseases

By eGov Innovation Editors | Feb 22, 2012

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New solutions developed by university teams could soon be harnessed to help manage the growing global problem of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as asthma, diabetes, stroke and cancer.

NCD Challenge, a global competition sponsored by IBM and Novartis to create innovative, easy-to-use solutions that fight the human and social burden of NCDs, has produced innovations that could one day be used to fight diseases.

The Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, and ESADE Business School-Universidad Ramon Llull in Barcelona, Spain won in the competition's two categories -- developing world and developed world.

In the developed nations category, 2Vidas, a social-media enabled support system for pregnant women with gestational diabetes, took home the prize. Meanwhile, in the developed world category, Dr. Diabetes, a solution that uses a handheld device to provide diabetes awareness, monitoring and management to patients with chronic illness in China, earned the judges' nod.

"Innovation such as this is key to a global strategy to improve care and build a more sustainable healthcare system," said Katherine Holland, general manager, global life sciences, IBM. "Innovation such as this is key to a global strategy to improve care and build a more sustainable healthcare system."

Other finalists in the competition include DiaMapp (Jordan University), a smart phone technology for managing diabetes type 1 in children; Move4Health (Karolinska Institutet), a prescription for physical activity by physicians  targeted for Vietnam; My Health Portal (ESADE Business School-Universidad Ramon Llul), a secure online portal based on cloud computing technology that bridges the communication gap between patient and doctor; and TeleHealth (University of Melbourne), an innovative integrated telehealth solution that can globally individualize the care and management of people with diabetes.