Health is an underlying aspect of the RIO +20 Conference, and the importance of investing in improving people?s health and their environment has been identified as a prerequisite to sustainable development.

In many places around the world, particularly in developing countries, public health and access to health services is limited by lack of facilities, trained personnel, and supplies among other health systems challenges. mHealth, the use of mobile technologies to improve health outcomes, can help mitigate some of the challenges these countries face. mHealth can provide cost-effective solutions for prevention, diagnosis and treatment support, supply chain management, adherence to medicine regimes, data collection, disaster management, and other health-related issues.

While mHealth programs have taken root in the majority of countries around the world, mechanisms that sustain their implementation have been lacking. This session will introduce participants to the field of mHealth and investigate methods for developing partnerships and fostering government leadership in mHealth at scale.

mHealth, the use of mobile technologies to improve health outcomes, is a swiftly evolving field with innovative technological advances occurring daily. While it is a relatively new health strategy, 83% of UN Member States report offering at least one type of mHealth service. Because of its rapidly developing nature, mHealth has frequently outpaced alignment with Ministry of Health priorities as well as the development of national strategies regarding standards and guidelines on technological interoperability, monitoring and evaluation, and privacy and security regulations needed to govern its use. It is all too common for countries to have numerous active pilot projects with no input or oversight from the host country. Without country guidance these projects have limited hope of becoming integrated into national public health programs and reaching scale.

While nascent conversations are taking place in some countries, the majority of countries where mHealth has started to take root have no defined strategies or guidelines on implementation. Knowing how to start these dialogues, who to invite to the table and what actions to take is the first step towards building national-level systems and mechanisms that can guide the development of a diverse mHealth ecosystem.

The aims of this session are to bring together policy makers and other representatives at Rio +20 to learn about ways to sustainably improve health using mobile technologies and to expand the growing network of people and organizations who incorporate mHealth into their activities.

High-level experts will introduce participants to the field of mHealth, expose them to the persistent barriers and gaps impacting scaled implementation, and empower them to engage effectively with national-level stakeholders to develop solutions.

Introduction to mHealth (30 minutes)
This presentation will touch on the basics of mHealth: uses, global opportunity and landscape, valuable case studies, intersection with other mServices, and the challenges and persistent gaps that impact implementation. A brief overview of the work the mHealth Alliance is engaging in will also be provided.

Working with partners to achieve sustainability (15 minutes)
A panelist will highlight some of the ways partners are coming together to address the challenges in the mHealth space. The use of public-private partnerships and stakeholder groups that work with Ministries of Health to develop national strategies will be discussed.

Audience Q&A with presenters (20 minutes)

Breakout sessions (Remainder of session)
Participants will divide themselves into the topic areas provided by the facilitators and learn, discuss, brainstorm and pose questions about those areas.
Proposed breakouts:
?Public-private partnerships
?Deep dive into national policies and mHealth strategies
At the end of the breakout sessions, each group will report back to the group about the major points discussed and what the next steps could be.

mHealth 101 will feature a variety of methodologies. The first section will be devoted to PowerPoint presentations and illustrative videos, demonstrations, and images that introduce the audience to mHealth. Case studies will also be used to highlight the work being done and the state of national level engagement with a focus on low income countries.

The presentations will be followed by a dialogue between the presenters and the audience to address any questions. The breakout sessions, which will make up the remainder of the time available, will allow participants to work in small groups with a facilitator to learn more about specific topics and think through possible solutions.

mHealth 101 is intended to introduce participants who may have limited knowledge or experience with mHealth to the basics. Participants will leave this session understanding the possibilities of mHealth, basic guidelines on how to approach engagement at the national level, and options for working with partners, both in the public and private sectors, to create sustainable health systems powered by mobile.

In addition to sharing mHealth knowledge, this session will provide ample time for participants to work closely with each other and strengthen their networks. Hopefully, some of the relationships and discussions that begin in this session will continue to grow and evolve into effective partnerships in the future.