Preventing dengue through mobile phones: Evidence from a field experiment in Peru

Ana Dammert, Jose Galdo and Virgilio Galdo

Journal of Health Economics, 2014, vol. 35, issue C, 147-161

Abstract: Dengue is the most rapidly spreading mosquito-borne viral disease in the world (WHO, 2009). During the last two decades, the dramatic rise in the number of dengue infections has been particularly evident in Latin American and the Caribbean countries. This paper examines the experimental evidence of the effectiveness of mobile phone technology in improving households’ health preventive behavior in dengue-endemic areas. The main results suggest that repeated exposure to health information encourages households’ uptake of preventive measures against dengue. As a result, the Breteau Index in treatment households, an objective measure of dengue risk transmission, is 0.10 standard deviations below the mean of the control group, which shows a reduction in the number of containers per household that test positive for dengue larvae.

Keywords: Dengue; e-Health; Peru; Framing; Experimental design (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I10 O12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2014
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (14)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:35:y:2014:i:c:p:147-161

DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2014.02.002

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