Using portable health information kiosk to assess chronic disease burden in remote settings

Cancer, cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, and type 2 diabetes, are responsible for over 50% of worldwide mortality. Chronic diseases have broad negative impacts in developing countries. Contributing to the development of chronic diseases are sedentary lifestyles, poor nutrition and eating habits, and air pollution, among other risk factors. These are also greatly increasing, and obesity has become a global phenomenon. Health promotion, and chronic disease prevention and surveillance, can be achieved through information and communication technologies (ICT), which acquire, disseminate and store health-related information electronically. The portable health information kiosk (PHIK) can be a powerful tool for promoting health education in communities in both urban and rural settings. The objective of the study was to utilize a PHIK as a tool to assess the burden of chronic disease and associated risk factors in diverse settings in India.