Information Technology and Public Health: Possibilities for Innovation through Interdisciplinary Actions

The new technologies of information and communication permeate our daily lives in various contexts. This reality allows us to reflect on the use of technology as a mechanism for the development of innovative solutions to various problems affecting society. In this sense, this work presents some tools that contribute to the solution of a serious public health problem, common in tropical countries: the monitoring of breeding sites of the Aedes aegypti mosquito larvae, vector of diseases such as dengue, Zika virus, yellow fever and Chikungunya fever. In its larval stage, this mosquito uses containers with stagnant water as breeding sites. The localization and elimination of breeding sites, together with the guidance to the population, is an effective way to combat mosquitoes and reduce the number of cases of infected individuals. To do so, it was developed and made available to the population in general, a set of technological tools, based on “apps” for smartphones, through which anyone can indicate breeding sites of mosquito larvae. In addition to an app for the geographic markup of breeding sites, there is also another app and a website that allows everyone to view the marked sites, making it possible to build a geographic representation for the distribution of Aedes larvae breeding sites. In a pilot test, it was possible to verify that the use of new technologies in controlling and monitoring of insects that are considered vectors of diseases is significantly efficient. It was generated a considerable volume of information that enables the development of control strategies and actions to combat the vector in question by the competent authorities. Also, this pilot test involved a large number of persons: undergraduate students and teachers from information technology and health areas, public professionals that are responsible for epidemiological monitoring and the population in general. Indirectly, the implementation of these technological tools promoted the interdisciplinary integration among teachers and students in the areas of information technology and public health in a Brazilian university. Similarly, the project also integrated university, population and the government around the purpose of controlling the advancement of diseases that have caused severe negative impacts on society. It was concluded that the rational use of new technologies, pointing towards solving problems that affect society, is able to provide innovative solutions, promoting the construction of interdisciplinary actions in education, integrating different areas of knowledge and these with competent agencies and society in general.