eHEALTH: CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS IN AFRICA
O. J Adebola1
1 Society for Telemedicine and eHealth in Nigeria,
33, Yaoundé Street Wuse Zone 6, Abuja, Nigeria
eHealth in developed countries has rapidly evolved from the delivery of online medical content toward the adaptation of generic e-commerce solutions to the processing of health-related administrative transactions and logistical support of clinical tasks. eHealth is perceived as being particularly useful in the operational support of the new decentralized and collaborative healthcare models being implemented in many countries. Initially designed for large organizations and industrialized countries, health information communications technology solutions are being increasingly proposed as an answer to the many health system management problems and healthcare demands faced by health organizations in developing society’s like Africa. eHealth development in Africa will require learning hard lessons from e-commerce, e-government and eHealth achievements and failures in developed countries and careful examination of their experiences. The characteristics of the health sector, organizational preparedness, and technological infrastructure of Africa will help in the selection of appropriate IT design and deployment strategies. eHealth deployment in Africa is growing slowly across the continent evident by widespread adoption of national information communication technology policies and pilot project initiatives using IT in Health in some countries. There are numerous challenges facing IT development in healthcare in Africa that includes social, economic and organization challenges faced by the health sector, technology infrastructure and operational issues, imperfect markets. The effect of globalization, adoption of resolution WHA58.28 of the fifty-eight session of the World Health Assembly in May 2005 to establish eHealth strategy for the World Health Organization and member states to plan for appropriate eHealth services in their countries. Also, activities of New Partnership for Africa Development through its sectoral priority on health and ICT, international and local organizations involved in eHealth in Africa gives it a good prospect.
Keywords: eHealth in Africa, Health sector, Challenges, Prospects