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Toward Health 4.0: Big data for dealing with diseases
The emergence of diseases is a complex problem that cannot be solved alone. The problem stems from the fact that they can be easily transmitted from animals to humans or vice versa, since animals and humans share the same ecosystem.
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T
he emergence of diseases is a complex problem that cannot be solved alone. The problem stems from the fact that they can be easily transmitted from animals to humans or vice versa, since animals and humans share the same ecosystem. As a result, animals and humans share many similar diseases and pathogens, which can infect us and cause illness.
Until now, it has been reported that 60 percent of existing human infectious diseases are transmitted from animals (zoonotic diseases). Meanwhile, 24 percent of all human diseases are caused by environmental factors.
The solution to this global threat rests with the availability of comprehensive information and data. In general, it requires big data about diseases and the conditions of ecosystems where animals and humans live. Jonna AK Mazet and others, in a paper entitled A One Health Approach to Address Emerging Zoonoses: The HALI Project in Tanzania, wrote that transdisciplinary approaches are required to cope with emerging pandemics. They require mountains of information on health, diseases, humans and ecosystems known as the One Health approach.
Health 4.0 is described as a revolutionary approach mainly for the management of an enormous amount of public health data. This approach is best known for its ability to capture, manage and analyze big data remotely. Emerging diseases by their nature will affect a great many people located mainly in remote areas. Hence, Health 4.0 has the potential to bring rapid technological advancements to address cases of emerging diseases in the most isolated areas by changing the nature of data collection and management.
