Facebook has reached more than 1 billion active users and every minute, 48 hours worth of content is uploaded to YouTube\u00a0 (2)<\/sup><\/i><\/b><\/p>\n During this last decade we have had to make two fundamental shifts in our thinking about NCDs:-<\/p>\n Firstly that NCDs are also a major health challenge in low and middle income countries –\u00a0gone are the\u00a0days when NCDs were seen as the disease of rich countries and infectious diseases\u00a0as the disease of poor countries.<\/p>\n Secondly that NCDs only affected the middling to older aged population.\u00a0\u00a0 NCDs affect everyone and transforming the NCD world picture demands a life course approach to policies and\u00a0interventions if the burden is to be reduced in any significant way.<\/p>\n A\u00a0new report from NCD Child entitled \u201cYoung people and NCDs: Harnessing the culture of technology\u201d(2)<\/sup> highlights the link between the exponential rise of mobile phones, the use of technologies\u00a0 and a younger generation more tech-savvy than any generation that has gone before, and argues that\u00a0\u00a0 “A life-course approach to prevention (primary, secondaryand tertiary) that pays greater attention to adolescence and acknowledges major cultural drivers of change in young people’s attitudes and actions is central to mitigating the effects of NCDs in individuals, communities and societies now and in the future<\/i>.\u201d\u00a0 Harnessing this in the battle with NCDs is a priority.\u00a0 We desperately need new ideas, new plans and new tested and trialled interventions to improve young peoples’ health through mobile technology.<\/p>\n ” We need to communicate what NCDs are, and why they matter to a global audience of young people – the generation who must solve this issue ” Dr Alessandro Demaio, NCDFREE<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n A white paper produced by mHealth Alliance in 2010 (3)<\/sup> highlighted some of the barriers and gaps to making mHealth widely available, such as\u00a0security of patient information and policy etc and that \u201cGovernments need to develop a strategic eHealth framework<\/i> <\/i>in which mHealth is an integral component in order to provide mHealth implementers in the NGO and private for<\/i> <\/i>profit<\/i> <\/i>sectors more guidance when implementing projects to ensure alignment with their eGovernment, health<\/i> <\/i>information systems, and other relevant policies and aims to leverage technology for public good<\/i>\u201d (3)<\/sup>.<\/p>\n This latest report\u00a0(1)\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0highlights not only the\u00a0availability of mobile phones worldwide\u00a0and shows that this is continually\u00a0increasing,\u00a0but\u00a0also looks at the some of the key barriers to full implementation\u00a0– patient privacy and security of patient information.\u00a0\u00a0Mobile technology\u00a0has the ability to help greatly in the drive for health equality and\u00a0we need to capitalise on this – however we also need to ensure that the barriers are addressed\u00a0for maximum worldwide benefit.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 There has been some success to date and harnessing the young and tech-savvy\u00a0in the battle with NCDs is another excellent step which is easily transferable to other disease areas.\u00a0 However the question now is how else do we continue to maximise this particular technology as an added value in health delivery globally, ensuring that barriers are cleared, gaps are filled and it becomes an integral part of health policy and delivery?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Dr Liz Grant, is Deputy Director of the\u00a0Global Health Academy at Edinburgh University<\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n References<\/span><\/p>\n (1)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0Patient privacy in a mobile world a framework to address privacy law issues in mobile health<\/p>\n http:\/\/www.mhealthalliance.org\/images\/content\/trustlaw_connect_report.pdf<\/a><\/p>\n <\/p>\n (2)\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 NCD Child – Young people and NCDs: Harnessing the culture of technology<\/p>\n![\"mgrant1](\"https:\/\/blogs.sps.ed.ac.uk\/global-health-academy\/files\/2013\/10\/mgrant1-photo.jpg\")
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