Dr. Derege Kebede, head of the African Health Observatory (AHO) and Knowledge Management Unit at the WHO Regional Office for Africa Office (WHO/AFRO) in Brazzaville, Congo made the call here, on the sidelines of the ongoing 63rd session of the WHO Regional Committee for Africa.
The eHealth is being promoted as the solution to the problems created by the old system of doing things, including, for example, the way patients' information and data are stored in health care centres across the continent, in ancient, dog-eared manila files.
“A solution already exists: electronic health or eHealth..... Countries in the Region are initiating, adapting and making commendable progress in more advanced applications of eHealth solutions,” Dr Kebede said
He listed some examples of countries that have already embraced eHealth as:
- Rwanda: TRACnet, a web-based application accessible both on mobile phones and computers, shows data and government HIV indicators from the field. It thus gives the viewer a comprehensive view of the status, patient load, and drug supply levels of all of the HIV/AIDS programmes in Rwanda.
- Kenya: A system which enables residents with a mobile phone to upload a locally-developed application that allows them to determine if a doctor or clinic is genuine has been developed. By simply sending an SMS, the user is shown up-to-date lists of licensed medical professionals and approved hospitals, starting with those nearest to him or her.
- Uganda: An eHealth solution, mTrack, allows for the tracking of medical supplies to clinics in the country where 131 hospitals serve nearly 36 million people. Information gathered trough mTrack is amassed and coded and shows health officials what is going on in real time. Previously, this information was available only on paper.
- Zambia: SmartCare, an electronic health record system, stores a person’s data on a pocket-sized plastic card.
- South Africa: HealthID, an electronic health record application enables the storage, in one location, of valuable clinical information including patients’ data; details of their previous doctor and hospital visits; previously prescribed medicines and blood test results and patients’ health measures such as blood pressure.
- Mali: The eHealth ‘IKON project’ enables rural clinics in the country to forward scans and x-rays to specialists for review through ICT connections. These specialists are then able to advise doctors in remote clinics on what treatments should be dispensed.
- Mozambique: SMS reminders and educational messages sent to HIV positive persons, including HIV positive pregnant women, help to improve HIV treatment adherence and prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV.
At the regional level, the African Health Observatory at WHO/AFRO supports regional and country efforts at strengthening health systems through its operations and a network of national health observatories (AHO), an open, collaborative platform that supports and facilitates the acquisition, generation, diffusion, translation and use of information, evidence and knowledge by countries to improve national health systems and outcomes.
PANA quotes WHO/AFRO as saying that other regional eHealth initiatives include the Telemedicine Network for Francophone African Countries (which will facilitate exchanges, learning and executive education of health professionals in remote regions) and the ePORTUGUÊSe network, a platform to support the development of human resources for health in Portuguese-speaking countries.
Whatever its challenges, experts said eHealth is proving to be a life saver in the African Region.
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Quelle/Source: Panapress, 04.09.2013
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