Samenvatting

Health care continues to be one of the critical sectors in Mozambique, where despite combined efforts of the International Development cooperation, and the central government the situation for large parts of the population still continues to be very vulnerable. In many parts of the country access to decent health care and basic information is underdeveloped, while diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS thrive. For decades alternative solutions and mechanisms have been tested and applied to improve the quality of the health services as well as the awareness regarding healthy behavior, however the effects have been limited. Mobile technology and tailored communication could possibly offer a solution here. Since the exponential growth of mobile network operators and mobile penetration in developing countries the notion that tailored and targeted communication through mobile technology might hold tremendous opportunities for international development and national governments has increased. In this thesis after a short introduction including an analysis of the context and the overall problem, several relevant theories are explained. Subsequently the findings of this research and some concrete, real life cases will be presented, bringing evidence that mobile technology has almost indefinite possibilities for the development of a better health care system in Mozambique. This research has been conducted at the request of the Innovation Health Initiative. An advice on how to, most effectively, use mobile technology to promote healthy behavior and the development of public national health in Mozambique has been created in final chapter of this thesis.