Africa has witnessed a rise in the number of mHealth products, but experts say there are glaring challenges that hinder the growth of such services, especially in Kenya.

Just this month, the likes of Econet, Gemalto and the GSMA have launched mHealth initiatives in countries such as Zimbabwe, Ghana and Kenya.

But stakeholders in mHealth met at a Wireless Wednesday roundtable this week at Kenya’s m:lab East Africa to discuss opportunities and challenges facing the MHealth space.

Nick Okeyo, a researcher from Kenya Medical Research Institute (KEMRI), says he has seen the benefits of digitising medical processes such as contacting patients and conducting research.

“For the first time in Kenya, we were able to conduct the Kenya AIDS Indicator Survey 2012/2013 through electronic means and the report was out in a few months as compared to years with the manual way,” Okeyo told the attendees.

But there are challenges that are preventing the use of technology, including the question of payment for mHealth services.
“Who pays for what service?” Okeyo asked.

“Who pays for the cost of communication and that boils down to sustainability of the programs,” Okeyo added.

There are, for example, mHealth information services that also require users to subscribe to messages that are paid for by content providers. This, in turn, also makes the services costly for the mHealth operators, said the stakeholders.

Another challenge cited by Vincent Sunda, from the ministry of health in Embakasi sub-county, is a ‘stigma’ attached to technology in parts of the country. That is, some citizens are not used to the idea of mobile phones being used to collect or disseminate health information, he said.

“In some families, the mobile phone belongs to the head of the house and so its usage is limited,” Sunda said.

Okeyo also pointed out that another challenge is the question of legislation and policy.

“The challenge is on the policy makers and policy drivers and how they can make the mHealth a true reality in Kenya,” said Okeyo.