Facebook has announced a new feature. The tool was released to help people better manage their treatment while ensuring strict privacy.
Just a few days after Facebook officially announced its News feature in collaboration with more than a few major media outfits, the social media giant has announced the launch of a new tool but this time in the health department. The new offering will work in collaboration with several health organizations in the U.S. to help people access health resources much easier as well as design ways to prevent health issues.
Dubbed “Preventive Health”, the tool will also set up reminders for users to run checkups as well as scheduling tests and even suggesting institutions where people will have affordable access to great healthcare.
Per the Preventive Health announcement written by Freddy Abnousi, MD, Facebook’s Head of Healthcare Research, the company has revealed that it will place initial focus on the top two most frequent causes of death in the U.S. which according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), are cancer and heart diseases. Preventive Health will also place some focus on the flu which is not nearly as deadly but affects millions of people annually.
The announcement also mentions a few other renowned organizations with a lot of expertise, who collaborated with Facebook to provide some of the resources being used in the tool. These organizations include the American Heart Association, the CDC, the American College of Cardiology, as well as the American Cancer Society.
Speaking on the need for prevention, the President of the American College of Cardiology, Richard Kovacs, MD, has said that this tool will help people take more control of their health and prevent fatalities. He said:
“Heart disease is the number one killer of men and women around the world and in many cases it is 100% preventable. By incorporating prevention reminders into platforms people are accessing every day, we’re giving people the tools they need to be proactive about their heart health.”
Users in the U.S., can now search through their Facebook mobile app for Preventive Health, to access the tools and find out recommended practices as well as tests for certain health issues. The information obtained from the platform can also be filtered for factors like age and gender, helping the users get a more tailored and personal response to their health needs. The new tool is expected to radically change the way people view their health, make access to proper care easier, and also significantly reduce deaths from some of these diseases.
The announcement also promises privacy. Because health specifics are a very personal matter, Preventive Health will help you set reminders for checkups and other procedures, but will not divulge your test results either to Facebook, insurance institutions or to any of the aforementioned partner organizations. It also mentions that while other activities carried out could influence the ads a user sees, Preventive Health will not use the information supplied on the feature, to show any ads.
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