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Sifelani Tsiko Agric, Environment & Innovations Editor
African countries should invest more in telemedicine to help lessen the burden on overwhelmed healthcare institutions and reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus on the continent, e-health experts say.
The continent with a population of more than one billion people as well as other parts of the world, is facing an unprecedented challenge of containing the Covid-19 pandemic and mitigating its impact on people’s lives, livelihoods and economies.
The number of Covid-19 cases globally has exceeded the eight million mark, with more than 441 000 people dead.
The outbreak of the new coronavirus has reached every corner of the African continent with confirmed coronavirus death toll on the continent standing at 7 197 as of June 18.
The spread of the virus still remains of major concern given the poor state of healthcare systems and cramped living conditions in many cities in Africa.
e-Health experts say telemedicine should now be the driving force in healthcare innovation and the decentralisation of healthcare as Africa struggles to reduce the burden of the Covid – 19 pandemic on its healthcare institutions.
“Avoiding unnecessary hospital visits used to be mainly about convenience and cost, but now we see it’s also about safety – for the patient and for those at the hospital already,” Patrick Beattie, chief executive officer (CEO) of e-health Redbird company was quoted saying.
“e-Health-care is needed to accelerate behaviour change and slow down the pandemic.”
Most countries in Africa still remain at high risk, with limited hospital bed capacity, gaps in health workers’ skills and competencies and a lack of functioning medical equipment.
Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, the regional director of the World Health Organization in Africa, recently said that Covid -19 cases are “accelerating,” which she attributed primarily to lack of adequate supplies, particularly testing kits and limited use of telemedicine.
She said managing the spread will require a collective and comprehensive approach to protect the welfare of communities across the continent.
Digigone, an e-health provider has developed telemedicine kits which could now be used by medical assistants or other medical professionals in various villages and towns and temporary or semi-permanent clinics to serve communities in remote areas.
“Through the multi-party video conferencing application and easy to use dashboard, they connect and consult with a physician who could be located anywhere in the world,” the company said.
“Using the various diagnostic medical devices and cameras, they can perform examinations of patients, provide diagnosis, prescribe treatment and monitor progress.”
e-health experts say wider promotion of telemedicine kits could help stem the rising cases of the coronavirus.
“Due to several factors, we can expect much more virulent pandemics in the future. It is time that we devise strategies that use the abilities of technology to its fullest to deal with these invisible, but infinitely dangerous, new enemies,” said Prof Louis Fourie, a South African futurist and technology strategist in a report.
“Perhaps Covid-19 will teach us that new technological tools are available to help contain infectious diseases. If only we do not realise it when we are already overwhelmed by the shear extent of the pandemic and do not have time to record and analyse the data.”
Online Reporter