New Technologies and Public Health in Developing Countries: The Cell PREVEN Project

This chapter describes an application of telehealth using cell phones and the Internet to collect, transmit and monitor data in real-time from female sex workers (FSW) who are part of a large project in Peru to reduce sexually transmitted diseases (STD). According to a national survey conducted in Peru of 4479 FSW in 2002, the prevalence of STDs and bacterial vaginosis was 26% and 34% respectively (PREVEN, 2003). Early detection and treatment of STDs represents one major strategy for preventing transmission of STD, including infection with HIV (Sanchez, Campos, Courtois, Gutierrez, Carrillo, et al., 2003). New technologies and information systems can help public health in terms of prevention, surveillance, and management of public health data. Consider the following case.

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