Using Big Data to Understand The Spread of Diseases

INGRID PATINO

Cell Phone Usage in Africa

Of the 6 billion mobile phone subscriptions in the

world, 5 billion of them are in developing nations. In Africa, seven in ten own their own mobile phones. Access is universal in countries like Algeria and Senegal. In contrast, Madagascar and Burundi fall below the 50% mark of cell phone users.

Harvard Epidemiologists Use Mobile Phone Data to predict disease spread

Epidemiologist Caroline Buckee

uses data on population movements- gleaned from mobile phones- to build precise tools for disease prevention

She specifically looks at a town

in Kenya called Kericho. Using cell phone towers, Buckee concluded in her research that people in Kericho were making 16 times more trips to an area north of Lake Victoria, which is known as a malaria hotspot.

What does this data mean?

Buckee also discovered people traveled to a tea

plantation full of migrant workers north of Lake Victoria and flagged it as a probable area where malaria is spread from. Before, it was understood this area was a malaria hotspot but data detailing human movement was not that available: where people where going, where did they come from, how long they stayed there. This information was made possible by cell phone data.

Outreach
Since then, Buckee and her colleagues have helped

public health officials tailor their findings by using real time targeted text message systems that alert travelers entering Kerichos cell phone towers to use preventive measures such as a bed net or stock up on medicine. It has also been important in helping where to focus mosquito control areas. This helps contain the spread and minimizes wasted effort.

Complications of the Innovation

Data mining is no stranger to the conflict of privacy.

While the data that Buckee collects is solely location tracking, business and other entities have data mined for purchasing information which crosses a boundary of privacy If this innovation is to be successful, it has to respect the boundaries of privacy while only using location tracking info.

Will it succeed?
Its very difficult to measure the

effectiveness of a social marketing campaign in general. BUT, using this data helps make social marketing campaigns about malaria prevention more targeted. This can definitely increase awareness and impact the rate of adoption. People are more likely to adopt the preventive measures as a result of this marketing campaign because of its more perceptive to real time locations.