Washington, August 31 : A study has suggested that mobile phone positioning data can be used to monitor population movements during disasters and outbreaks.

The study, conducted by Linus Bengtsson and colleagues from the Karolinska Institute, Sweden and Columbia University, USA, found that reports on the location of populations affected and in need of assistance could be generated within hours of receiving data.

In this geospatial analysis, Bengtsson and colleagues investigated whether position data from mobile phone SIMs (subscriber identity modules) can be used to estimate the magnitude and trends of population movements.

The authors collaborated with Digicel, the largest mobile phone operator in Haiti, to retrospectively follow the positions of 1.9 million SIMs in Haiti before and after the January 2010 earthquake, and found that the estimates of population movements using SIM cards were more accurate than ad hoc estimates generated immediately after the earthquake. The authors then tracked population movements by SIM positioning during the first few days of the cholera outbreak that occurred following the earthquake, showing that these estimates of population movements could be generated within 12 hours of receiving SIM positioning data.

Their findings showed that routinely collected data on the movements of active SIM cards in a disaster-affected nation can provide estimates of the magnitude, distribution, and trends in population displacement, and that the method can be used for close to real-time monitoring of population movements during an infectious disease outbreak.

The authors said: "We recommend establishing relations with mobile phone operators prior to emergencies as well as implementing and further evaluating the method during future disasters."

The study has been published in PLoS Medicine. (ANI)