mCessation: Leveraging

technology to
strengthen health
delivery system

Dr Vinayak Prasad, Project Manager,

Tobacco Control, World Health
Organization

15 March 2015

mCessation

15 March 2015

mCessation

Tobacco Use is growing

15 march 2015

mCessation

Burden of tobacco use

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mCessation

Global Consensus- FCTC

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WHA- NCD Global Action Plan (2013

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mCessation

Tobacco Control efforts not fast

enough
Current policies are insufficient to compensate for this slowdown
> 30% gap between global target reductions and projected
number for 2020.

Global prevalence of tobacco

use among adults and
adolescents 2009
8

Health and Economic costs exceed

economic gains

15 March 2015

mCessation

Rising national health care costs are

unsustainable

10

How do we change this?

A. Scaling up the "best buys" tobacco control measures (Tax,
Pictorial Health Warnings, Ad bans, smoke free laws)
B. Introduce cost-effective measures to help existing tobacco
users reduce use.

11

Going mobile

12

Leveraging mobiles for health: Be

He@lthy Be Mobile
WHO-ITU initiative for large-scale national mHealth
programmes for NCDs.

mCervicalCa
ncer

Evidence from successful

trials
Technical support for design
and scale-up
Technology requirements

mDiabetes

13

The aims of BHBM:

1.

Enable public health services to improve health

care delivery quality and scale

2.

Create a global evidence base for mHealth

interventions for noncommunicable diseases

3.

Reduce national and individual health care costs

4.

Improve health care access nationally and

globally

5.

Clarify the role of the mobile in health care as a

delivery tool but not a solution in itself

14

mHealth Scale-Up Programme

KNOWLEDGE &
INNOVATION
HUBS

mHealth

RESEARCH
INTERVENTIO
NS

SCALE or
BUILD
CAPACITY
IN COUNTRY

DEVELOP
TOOLKITS

2013 2016: Be Healthy Be Mobile Programme

Develop best practice for mHealth at scale
WHO-ITU build & trial reusable tools to be shared globally

20-06-2014

mHealth Scale-Up Proposal

EVALUATE &
REFINE
KNOWLEDGE

INSTITUTIONALISAT
ION, KNOWLEDGE
SHARING

Beyond 2016
Scale mHealth globally in a meaningful way
Develop light touch service models

15

Progress and timeline

2015 / 2016
2014
2013
Laun
ch

30+ COUNTRIES
INTERESTED

mCessation Toolkit
mDiabetes Toolkit
Launch services in Costa Rica
Partnerships with key industry
players, governments,
Development Banks

7 SIGNED COUNTRY
AGREEMENTS

8 NATIONAL mHEALTH
INITIATIVES

mWellness Toolkit
mCervical cancer Toolkit
Launch services in Senegal
Launch services in Zambia
Engagement discussions Norway, Philippines,
UK, Tunisia

mHypertension Toolkit
Launch services in Philippines
Launch services in all
countries

2016

INSTITUTIONALISA
TION
Light touch service
models for other countries
PPP continuing mHealth
development

By 2017
70% of World population have access to the mHealth Toolkit
Transformation of NCD prevention and treatment
Real-time tracking of WHO Global Monitoring Framework

16

mHealth initiatives toolkits

17

mCessation
Use of mobile technology to increase smoking cessation
High-risk population

Smoking population

Prevention
Awareness
Increase awareness
Focus on health risks
Supported by mass
and social media
campaigns

Treatment
Enforcement
Encourage anti smoking laws
Increase smoke free zones
Detectors
Measurement devices
Track illicit trade

Cessation and
ProvideSurveillance
quit lines and follow
up
Encouragement texts
Use of monitoring and
evaluation mechanisms for
ongoing assessment and
impact

18

There is evidence for mCessation

Number of successful SMS-based behavioural change

programmes for smokers have been successful in the US, UK
and New Zealand, Turkey, Hong Kong, Europe. Seen as being 2
to 5 times more effective.

02/09/2014

mCessation: evidence (cont.)

Scientific literature reviews and clinical trials have recorded

quit rates of up to 10% on mCessation patients 6 months after
intervention.

There is preliminary evidence that mCessation is more costeffective than alternative interventions.
02/09/2014

mCessation: the WHO evidence base

02/09/2014

21

mCessation Case Study: Costa Rica

Background:
Costa Rica recorded over a third of
its population smoking tobacco in
the last 15 years.
Highest number of users is within
the younger age group (18-29):
162 998 smokers in 2010
Existing efforts to control tobacco
use included quit and win
contests, smoke-free workplaces,
and free cessation clinics.

02/09/2014

22

Implementation
National launch of mSalud
programme in February 2014
Targeting 60 000 smokers in 2014, and
500 000 smokers in the country
overall
Major advertising campaign supported
by Costa Ricas two premier football
clubs
Platform developed will be gifted back
to the
global initiative
Aim will be to share best practices
with other countries in Central
America
02/09/2014

Successful elements

Innovative financing model: 1 million USD committed by the

Government from tobacco taxes
Strong leadership from the MoH designated team
High end inter-governmental coordination between the MoH ,
MoICT and eGovernance group

How to expand this?

5 countries
4 years

600 million
fewer
smokers

Aim: to scale up mCessation activities in 5 high population

countries which represent almost 80% of the global number of
smokers
Financing from: tobacco taxes

Critical mass means cost-effectiveness

25

This is not just about tobacco

The technology platform is the base where multiple other
health programmes can be added, continuously adding new
layers of content for ANY disease.
Senegal:
from diabetes

to Ebola

26

but its a good place to start

27

BHBM engagement with countries on

mCessation

Costa Rica
Philippines
Tunisia
Moldova
Mauritius
India
Others- exploring mCessation options for TB program etc.

15 March 2015

mCessation

28

For any further

questions please
contact me on
prasadvi@who.int