Time to Reap the Benefits of Digital Technology in Public Health
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.47203/IJCH.2026.v38i01.001Keywords:
digital Health, Social Media, Youth, Health PromotionAbstract
Digital Revolution: A Historical Perspective
Technology, derived from the Greek words technē (art or craft) and logos (discourse), has evolved from applied arts to encompass tools, systems, and processes that enable humans to modify and control their environment. (1) The digital revolution has been driven largely by rapid advances in mobile communication and internet technologies. Mobile telephony progressed from early vehicle-mounted systems to handheld devices in 1973, when Martin Cooper of Motorola made the first mobile phone call, (2) followed by successive transitions from 1G analog networks to the current emergence of 5G technology, offering high-speed connectivity and low latency. (3)
In parallel, the internet evolved from ARPANET (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) to the World Wide Web, social media platforms, and mobile internet, fundamentally transforming communication and access to information.(4) The commercialization of the internet in the 1990s and the introduction of smartphones in 2007 further accelerated the development of mobile health applications and telemedicine services.
Downloads
References
Encyclopedia Britannica (2024). History of technology. Available from: https://www.britannica.com/technology/history-of-technology [ Last accessed on 06/02/26]
Wikipedia contributors (2024). History of mobile phones. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_mobile_phones [Last accessed on 06/02/26]
Wikipedia contributors (2024). Mobile phone. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_phone [Last accessed on 06/02/26]
Wikipedia contributors (2024). History of the Internet. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Internet [Last accessed on 06/02/26]
Ericsson. Latest data and forecasts – Ericsson Mobility Report. Available from: https://www.ericsson.com/en/reports-and-papers/mobility-report/dataforecasts/mobile-traffic-update [Last accessed on 06/02/26]
GSMA. GSMA Report: Representing the worldwide mobile communications industry. Available from: https://www.gsma.com/ [ Last accessed on 06/02/26]
Wikipedia contributors (2025). Health Unlocked. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Available from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HealthUnlocked [ Last accessed on 06/02/26]
China Daily. Online Newspaper (2025). China set to clean up online health content: New rules mandate verification, ban ads and crack down on misinformation. Available from: https://global.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202508/04/WS688ff13aa310c0209d01abff.html [ Last accessed on 06/02/26]
Afful-Dadzie E, Afful-Dadzie A, Egala SB. Social media in health communication: A literature review of information quality. Health Information Management Journal 2021;52(1):3-17.
Ghahramani A, de Courten M, Prokofieva M. The potential of social media in health promotion beyond creating awareness: an integrative review. BMC Public Health 2022;22(1):2402.
Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021 [Gazette of India, Vide G.S.R 139 (E) Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology] dated 25.2.2021. Available from: https://www.meity.gov.in/static/uploads/2024/02/Information-Technology-Intermediary-Guidelines-and-Digital-Media-Ethics-Code-Rules-2021-updated-06.04.2023-.pdf [Last accessed on 06/02/26]
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Anurag Chaudhary, Diksha Saini, Vikram Kumar Gupta

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.