Public Health 2.0: The Hospital and the Bazaar

I've been working on public health for over 10 years now and it's difficult when you're trying to battle with a virus (or germ) that grows virally with a program that scales up linearly. 

Most public health programs are designed as neatly defined programs that have discrete inputs, outputs, and boundaries. 

The School Health for 1 Billion Children is an attempt at public health 2.0. Perhaps it takes a viral public health network to deal with a viral problem.

Definition of School Health

Definition of School Health from the American School Health Association

What is School Health?

All the strategies, activities, and services offered by, in, or in association with schools that are designed to promote students' physical, emotional, and social development make up a school's health program.

When a school works with students, their families, and their community to provide these strategies, activities, and services in a coordinated, planned way, then the term coordinated school health program applies. Ideally a coordinated school health program would include several, if not all, of the following:

• a healthful environment,

• nursing and other health services that students need to stay in school,

Click here for the rest of the definition

Assembling the Technology Platform for School Health for 1 B Children

With mobile phones growing in prevalence in the developing world, putting together the information system to monitor the implementation of School Health for 1 Billion Children might be easier than expected.

The key features are outline in this slideshow. And many elements already exist as opensource technology at MIT's NextLab.

Now we need help in assembling these technologies. Anyone out there want to pitch in?