Journals Proceedings

Abstract

Tuberculosis (TB) is second only to HIV/AIDS as the greatest killer worldwide due to a single infectious agent, and is one of the top killers among infectious diseases in Malaysia. In Malaysia, the TB incidences are increasing every year. Although the TB treatment success rate is increasing, the number is still not very promising compared to those in neighbouring countries. A study showed that patients treated without close observation by the hospital have a substantially higher risk of adverse outcome. The study also showed that a large proportion of unsuccessful treated cases could be identified and prevented at an earlier stage if the patients are closely observed by the hospital. As a result, we initiated a project called “Wellness Community: M-Health for TB patients” in an effort to enable the hospital to closely monitor and communicate with TB patients by utilizing information and communications technology. We developed a prototype of MHealth system which deploys push and pull technology to allow doctors or TB specialists push messages or medical advices to their patients using mobile devices or to pull/retrieve any messages sent by patients to the system. Doctors and specialists can also view the patients’ medical records using the system. Furthermore M- Health for TB Patients can help hospital to educate their TB patients more about the disease. This paper discusses the software development issues and challenges in developing the system.