Helen Zille, Premier of the Western Cape, South Africa to Keynote at GSMA-mHealth Alliance Mobile Health Summit

LONDON, March 20, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

The GSMA announced today that Helen Zille, Premier of the Western Cape, South Africa, will be joined by senior executives from France Telecom, HP, Johnson & Johnson and Vodafone in the keynote programme at the 2012 GSMA-mHealth Alliance Mobile Health Summit which will be held on 29 May - 1 June at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, South Africa. The GSMA-mHealth Alliance Mobile Health Summit brings together key stakeholders in the mobile health world, from government, private sector and industry, to developers and implementers working on the ground, to further the understanding and to support the improvement of health outcomes and well-being.

Keynote speakers at the Mobile Health Summit include:

• Helen Zille, Premier of the Western Cape, South Africa
• Axel Nemetz, Head of Health, Vodafone
• Scott C. Ratzan, Vice President Global Health, Johnson & Johnson
• Gabi Zedlmayer, Vice President, Office of Global Social Innovation, HP
• Thierry Zylberberg, EVP Strategic Partnerships, GM Health Line of Business, France Telecom

The 2012 Mobile Health Summit conference programme will focus on fostering the scale and commercial sustainability of mobile health. In addition to the keynote programme, the conference will feature sessions exploring a range of topics including: evaluating mHealth at scale; market access strategies for mHealth; strengthening health systems with mobile; health and development cross-industry strategies; technological infrastructure; developing the healthcare workforce; health informatics; and mHealth business models. Speakers will also consider the role of mobile in achieving priority health outcomes such as improved maternal and child health, non-communicable disease management and Millennium Development Goal 6.  

Mobile Health Summit Exhibition and Additional Events

The Mobile Health Summit attracts a wide range of stakeholders including mobile operators, insurance groups, pharmaceutical companies, healthcare providers, research centres, equipment manufacturers, infrastructure vendors, application developers and integrators from around the world. The Summit will again include an exhibition showcase of cutting-edge mobile health solutions from companies including Bulk SMS, CellMEd, mHealth Company, Omron, Preventice, Swissmed and Vodacom. mHealthEd 2012, a partner event presented by iHeed, will also return this year.  

The Mobile Health Summit also features the Leadership Forum, an exclusive, invitation-only meeting which will convene national government experts, regulators and policy makers with executives from the mobile industry and select global not-for-profit organisations. The Leadership Forum is sponsored by Vodacom.

GSMA Extends Call for Papers

Due to demand, the GSMA has extended the deadline for speaker submissions. Please visit http://www.mobilehealthsummit.com/cfp12/callforpapers.shtml for more information and to access the online submission form.  Applications will be accepted until 23.59 GMT on Thursday 29 March 2012.

For more information on the GSMA-mHealth Alliance Mobile Health Summit, including details on how to attend, exhibit or sponsor, please visit http://mobilehealthsummit.com/event/2012_preview.shtml.  

About the GSMA

The GSMA represents the interests of mobile operators worldwide. Spanning more than 220 countries, the GSMA unites nearly 800 of the world's mobile operators, as well as more than 200 companies in the broader mobile ecosystem, including handset makers, software companies, equipment providers, Internet companies, and media and entertainment organisations. The GSMA also produces industry-leading events such as the Mobile World Congress and Mobile Asia Congress.  

For more information, please visit Mobile World Live, the online portal for the mobile communications industry, at http://www.mobileworldlive.com or the GSMA corporate website at http://www.gsmworld.com.

About the mHealth Alliance

The mHealth Alliance champions the use of mobile technologies to improve health throughout the world. Working with diverse partners to integrate mHealth into multiple sectors, the Alliance serves as a convener for the mHealth community to overcome common challenges by sharing tools, knowledge, experience, and lessons learned. The mHealth Alliance advocates for more and better quality research and evaluation to advance the evidence base; seeks to build capacity among health and industry decision-makers, managers, and practitioners; promotes sustainable business models; and supports systems integration by advocating for standardization and interoperability of mHealth platforms.  The mHealth Alliance also hosts HUB (Health Unbound), a global online community for resource sharing and collaborative solution generation. Hosted by the United Nations Foundation, and founded by the Rockefeller Foundation, Vodafone Foundation, and UN Foundation, the Alliance now also includes PEPFAR, HP, the GSM Association, and NORAD among its founding partners. For more information, visit http://www.mhealthalliance.org.