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Rumbidzayi Zinyuke
Health Buzz
If there is one thing we can all agree on, it is that Covid-19 brought a whole lot of changes with it.
Both good and bad.
For Africa, the disease exposed the weaknesses in the healthcare systems and forced many countries to relook at their pandemic preparedness to ensure that any future virus does not catch them unaware like Covid-19 did.
Many programmes that were already ongoing were disrupted as the world adjusted to the restrictions and limitations that came with fighting the pandemic.
On the positive, Covid-19 brought the realisation that innovation and technology could close some of those gaps that had been exposed in the health sector.
It became apparent that developing countries had to adapt to ensure that they continued providing their people quality healthcare to ensure the achievement of universal healthcare.
Some of the key challenges facing healthcare in Africa included a massive shortage of trained healthcare workers particularly in rural areas.
Inadequate funding for healthcare as well as insufficient infrastructure were also major hindrances to sufficient health service provision.
Digital solutions were the answer.
The world over, digital health solutions are helping to address some of these challenges by improving access to healthcare services and increasing efficiency in healthcare delivery and this includes telemedicine.
Telemedicine involves the use of mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets to provide healthcare services and can include applications that provide health information and tips as well as allowing patients to monitor their health conditions and communicate with healthcare services providers.
Although Zimbabwe initiated a telemedicine programme way before the pandemic, it was not until after, that it started gaining traction.
It became apparent that technology could really change healthcare for everyone.
In line with the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1), the roll out of the telemedicine project is part of the Government’s effort to ensure universal access to health services.
A recent visit to Parirenyatwa Group of Hospitals revealed how Government has made inroads into the roll out of the national telemedicine programme that is aimed at increasing access to quality healthcare for all.
While the project is still in its infancy, the hospital has already received equipment from a sister hospital, Hunan People’s Hospital in China to kick-start it.
Not only is the equipment already making a difference in ensuring that health professionals in different institutions across the country can share information, it is set to change healthcare provision to patients once it becomes fully functional.
According to Dr Yvette Turugari, the head of the Telemedicine and Education Centre at the hospital, technology really had the potential to change healthcare provision.
“From that moment (Covid-19 pandemic), we made a decision to make telemedicine official and put it to good use so that not only our patients will benefit from the technology, but the practitioners will also benefit.
The telemedicine centre is going to focus primarily on two things. Firstly, we are going to focus on provider to provider telemedicine and then we are also going to provide doctor to patient telemedicine,” she said.
“Telemedicine involves a range of different aspects. It goes from when you take your phone and you call someone they tell you they are sick and you tell them the medication. So just a simple phone call is telemedicine and it goes up to the point where you can actually do surgery remotely, when you’re operating someone using machinery that’s telemedicine.”
The equipment that has been set up allows doctors to communicate with other doctors remotely to provide expert advice to district hospitals or provincial hospitals.
This helps to ensure that patients are not unnecessarily referred to Quaternary facilities like Parirenyatwa Hospital when they can be assisted remotely through telemedicine.
Dr Turugari said for starters, patients who receive treatment at Parirenyatwa will be assessed to ensure they qualify to be put under the telemedicine programme where their follow up consultations would be done remotely.
“Before we make a decision that this patient is going to have a telemedicine consultation, the doctors will assess their situation to see if this patient is fit for a telemedicine consultation or they want to see them as an inpatient because the outcomes are not supposed to then differ.
“We also assess the patient’s privacy and confidentiality issues at home to see if they can get a space where they can actually have on their own to do a telemedicine consultation and if they have the right equipment and a good camera in the case that maybe the doctor would want to see something during the consultation,” said Dr Turugari.
The telemedicine programme is being rolled out by the Ministry of Health and Child Care and the Ministry of ICT, through Potraz, to ensure there is adequate infrastructure to allow for the national roll out.
The programme is expected to reach more than 100 institutions in the first phase before being rolled out to all health facilities.
The introduction of the telemedicine programme can definitely revolutionise the way healthcare services are accessed and delivered as the innovative approach will provide individuals with the opportunity to consult with medical professionals remotely, using technology such as video calls and messaging platforms.
One of the key benefits of telemedicine is its ability to improve access to healthcare services for individuals living in remote or underserved areas.
In Zimbabwe, where the majority of the population lives in rural communities with limited access to healthcare facilities, telemedicine will provide a lifeline.
By connecting patients with healthcare professionals through virtual consultations, telemedicine ensures that individuals receive the care they need, regardless of their location.
Furthermore, telemedicine will also help to alleviate the burden on the country’s healthcare system by reducing the number of unnecessary visits to hospitals and clinics.
By allowing individuals to consult with doctors remotely, telemedicine will help to streamline the healthcare process and ensure that resources are allocated more efficiently.
This will not only benefit patients by reducing wait times and improving access to care, but it will also help to improve the overall quality of healthcare services in Zimbabwe.
The telemedicine programme also links well with the Ministry of Health’s Impilo electronic health records system which is already running.
Electronic Health Records can improve the efficiency of healthcare delivery and reduce errors, particularly in areas where paper records are still in use.
This system allows for the collection, analysis, and dissemination of health data and can help to identify health trends, track disease outbreaks, and inform healthcare policy.
Online Reporter