(Source: Agência Brasília/flickr)
Health workers, researchers, global organizations, and governments are turning focus to technology to help stem the spread of the Zika virus, which has been dubbed a public health emergency by the World Health Organization and is causing particular concern in Brazil in the leadup to the Summer Olympics. Advancements in mobile tech and big data are the chief focus now for governments wrestling with the disease outbreak.
As Blouin News has previously explored, crowdsourcing applications have been frequently cited as tools to pinpoint Zika outbreaks, how they spread, and where to direct healthcare worker power. (The health tech world has looked at crowdsourcing technology for addressing other diseases like dengue fever.) In addition, tech giants are partnering with health providers to disseminate accurate medical information. Google, for example, recently launched a service in India that provides information on digital cards about various diseases. A similar service was launched in Brazil two weeks ago, updated with information on Zika; it is available in desktop and mobile format and serves to properly educate users on medical conditions — one of Google’s top search functions…
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