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Analysis
Connecting the dots: Kerala’s use of digital technology during the COVID-19 response
  1. Osama Ummer1,2,
  2. Kerry Scott3,
  3. Diwakar Mohan4,
  4. Arpita Chakraborty1,
  5. Amnesty Elizabeth LeFevre5,6
  1. 1Oxford Policy Management, New Delhi, Delhi, India
  2. 2BBC Media Action, New Delhi, India
  3. 3Department of International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
  4. 4International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD, USA
  5. 5International Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, Maryland, USA
  6. 6School of Public Health and Family Medicine, University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa
  1. Correspondence to Dr Osama Ummer; kposamaummer{at}gmail.com

Abstract

Digital tools are increasingly being applied to support the response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic in India and elsewhere globally. This article draws from global frameworks to explore the use of digital tools in the state of Kerala across the domains of communication, surveillance, clinical management, non-clinical support, and core health system readiness and response. Kerala is considered India’s first digital state, with the highest percentage of households with computers (24%) and the internet (51%) in India, 95% mobile phone penetration, 62% smartphone penetration and 75% digital literacy. Kerala has long been a model for the early adoption of digital technology for education and health. As part of the pandemic response, technology has been used across private and public sectors, including law enforcement, health, information technology and education. Efforts have sought to ensure timely access to health information, facilitate access to entitlements, monitor those under quarantine and track contacts, and provide healthcare services though telemedicine. Kerala’s COVID-19 pandemic response showcases the diverse potential of digital technology, the importance of building on a strong health system foundation, the value of collaboration, and the ongoing challenges of data privacy and equity in digital access.

  • COVID-19
  • public health
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported (CC BY 4.0) license, which permits others to copy, redistribute, remix, transform and build upon this work for any purpose, provided the original work is properly cited, a link to the licence is given, and indication of whether changes were made. See: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjgh-2021-005355

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    Footnotes

    • Handling editor Seye Abimbola

    • Twitter @osamaummer?s=09

    • Contributors OU, KS and AEL jointly conceptualised this analysis and developed the framework. OU conducted the primary searches and extracted the data to populate the framework. OU and KS analysed the data and jointly drafted the manuscript. AEL provided oversight, guidance and supervision for all aspects of this work. All authors discussed the findings and contributed to the final manuscript.

    • Funding This study was funded by The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (grant number: OPP1179252).

    • Competing interests None declared.

    • Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.