An interesting thing happened on my way to breakfast -- I was introduced to global health. In February, I was invited to the African Prayer Breakfast, a subset of the National Prayer Breakfast held each year for the past 68 years. I sat next to a pediatrician from Nigeria, who is a director of Global Health for the Washington, DC based Academy for Educational Development (AED). Between bites of scrambled eggs, we chatted about my former life as a medical researcher and interest in knowing more about global health. We set up time to meet later.
AED works with the UN, WHO, USAID, NGOs and other teams to bring needed health and medical care to sorely needed areas. In Sub-Saharan Africa, the use of technology is the driver moving basic health care into villages. The technology is not complex. A cell phone may be the link between a pregnant woman and the clinic a day's journey away, e.g., 100,000 cell phones distributed to women are saving lives in Rwandan villages. The women are taught how to use the phones and can text doctors and clinicians with questions about their pregnancies. They get answers back that in the past were mostly never asked since travel to the clinics were very difficult. In Ghana, mobile applications are being used for annual medical check-ups. SmartPhones in South Africa, connecting doctors with access to a clinical library and treatment guidelines, have improved clinical outcomes.
Bottomline. Technology is fast improving the access to health care and the treatment of clinical conditions in developing countries. The technology is reducing the need for extensive traditional infrastructures to serve as focal points to provide health care. Probably more so than in developed countries, the pace to develop and apply technology is accelerating rapidly in developing countries. The main deterrent for success will not be the technology nor the eduation, it will be the ongoing support of the technology -- the 'supply chain' (upkeep of equipment, electrical power, wireless signals) that keeps this all operating efficiently. But then with challenges, there are opportunities!
There is energy, excitement, and momentum to provide even more technology and applications in global health. Recently, I teamed with an Information Technology (IT) company to determine how to apply their products and services in the health IT arena for potential application in developing countries. Ahh! The challenge to become pioneers!
© Baldwin H. Tom CMC
www.tbgroupconsultants.com
Health is the most important thing everyone should worry about and look after. we should all take care of ourselves and know our limits.
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An interesting thing happened on my way to breakfast -- I was introduced to global health. In February, I was invited to the African Prayer Breakfast, a subset of the National Prayer Breakfast held each year for the past 68...
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