The Kenyan government has launched the country’s first National e-Health Strategy aimed at ensuring health information is provided to the right person at the right place and time to support quality and efficient healthcare.
Medical Services Minister Professor, Anyang Nyong’o said the development of the e-Health Strategy comes at an important time when the health sector is implementing far reaching reforms to realize the right to health enshrined in the Constitution.
"Current technologies allow us to access information at our fingertips which was once impossible.
"It is time we harness this technology as this information can save lives.
"E-health is not only an essential infrastructure underpinning information exchange between all participants in the Kenyan health care system, but it serves as a key enabler and driver of improved health outcomes for all Kenyans," Nyong’o said during the launch late on Thursday.
He said the strategy is anchored on the achievement of Vision 2030, whose overall goal in health is to have a health System that assures "equitable and affordable healthcare at the highest achievable standard" for Kenyan citizens.
The e-Health strategy will make use of the available ICT infrastructure, conducive policy, legal environment and local expertise to harness ICT for improvement in Healthcare delivery.
These efforts will make fundamental changes in the way information is accessed and shared.
The implementation of the e-Health Strategy is expected to transform operations in the sector and facilitate the country into becoming a hub for accessing specialized health services and achieve universal coverage by 2030.
Upon implementation, this new strategy will improve the safety and efficiency quality of healthcare by giving providers and consumer better access to health information that helps to make more evidence-based diagnoses and informed healthy behavior respectively.
Linkages between health research and information technologies will be created enabling the Kenyan health sector to operate more effectively.
Research will be built into service delivery thereby allowing for appropriate informed investment and research as well as policy decisions.
As partnerships are strengthened, Kenya will be able to economically build capacity among its key health personnel through improved technology transfer.
"The e-Health Strategy was a participatory and consultative process as a policy for e-Health in East, Central and Southern Africa facilitating and strengthening partnerships in the provision of accessible quality healthcare," said Beth Mugo, Minister for Public Health and Sanitation.
"Working with the private sector, we can tap into the skills and knowledge in healthcare from more established instruments both within and outside the country," she said.
The new strategy focuses on improving the way information is managed in the following sectors: Telemedicine, Health information systems, Information for citizens, M-health and E-learning.
Among those who will implement the new plan are government regulators, pharmacy and medical chain suppliers, medical insurance providers, and healthcare employees.
The strategy is a result of three years of stakeholder engagement which culminated in February 2011 during a workshop in Naivasha attended by public and private sectors, civil society and academia.
The strategy was supported by the World Bank Group’s Investment Climate Advisory Services through its Health in Africa Initiative and the Commonwealth Secretariat.
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Quelle/Source: Coastweek, 13.08.2011
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