How Can Mobile Health Technology Improve Usage and Delivery of the COVID-19 Vaccine in Low- and Middle-Income Countries?

Eman Hany Elsebaie; Mohamed Abdelhamed Fathy; Amira Karam Khalifa; Mustafa Omar Sharaf El-Deen; Mennatallah Ahmed Alnagdy; Samaa Talaat Elsaidy; Amal Mostafa Fouda; Kerolos Hany Abdelaziz Morques; Notaila Mohammed Shehata; Marwa Rashad Salem

doi:10.3889/oamjms.2022.8323

Authors

Eman Hany Elsebaie Depatment of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt
Mohamed Abdelhamed Fathy Department of Clinical Research, Ministry of Health and Population, Cairo, Egypt
Amira Karam Khalifa Department of Pharmacology Qasr Alainy, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1219-8459
Mustafa Omar Sharaf El-Deen Department of Clinical Pharmacy and Pharmacy Practice, Faculty of Pharmacy, Mansoura University, Mansoura, Egypt https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1188-6666
Mennatallah Ahmed Alnagdy echnical Office for Minster of Health and Population, National Training Institute, Ministry of Health and Population, Cairo, Egypt
Samaa Talaat Elsaidy Department of Clinical Pharmacy, Sharm El Sheikh International Hospital, Sharm Elseikh, South Sinai, Egypt
Amal Mostafa Fouda Department of Clinical Pharmacy, 30 June Hospital, General Authority for Healthcare, Ministry of Health and Population, Cairo, Egypt
Kerolos Hany Abdelaziz Morques Department of Technical Inspection, Assiut Health Directorate, Assiut, Egypt https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2039-2753
Notaila Mohammed Shehata Department of Gynecology, Al-Qanayat Central Hospital, Ministry of Health and Population, Sharqia, Egypt
Marwa Rashad Salem Depatment of Public Health and Community Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.3889/oamjms.2022.8323

Keywords:

mHealth, Mobile health, Mobile phone, Coverage, Usage, Delivery, Vaccination, COVID-19

Abstract

Background: Mobile health projects have been implemented all over the world, using mobile phones for record keeping, data collection, or patient communication. Further, mobile health tools have been used to promote behavior change in health workers and/or patients. For example, text message reminders have been shown to increase health care seeking behavior or medication adherence in some patients, and mobile data collection and communication tools for health workers have improved follow-up of patients and data reporting.

Methods: This literature review was conducted through a keyword search of the following databases to identify relevant peer-reviewed articles: Google Scholar, PubMed, Embase, and EKB. Keywords used in these searches included mHealth, mobile health, mobile phone, coverage, usage, delivery, vaccination, immunization and COVID-19.

Results: Eleven studies satisfied the inclusion criteria were included. They examined awareness, applications, challenges and strengths of Mobile-Health applications. All studies showed some evidence that mHealth intervention had a positive impact on increasing the coverage and use of COVID-19 vaccine. Bad awareness of people was strongly associated with declines in vaccination intent. The use of mobile applications has made a great revolution in tracking and data gathering about vaccination status. The main limitations were reporting bias and malfunctioning of mobile applications. The main strengths were getting real-time data, improving surveillance, using geographic mapping to monitor populations.

Conclusion: Growing usage of smartphone and internet penetration in African countries opens the door to mHealth applications such as health literacy, vaccine supply and control, disease monitoring and intervention, and virtual consultations with health professionals around the world.

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