<incom> FW: [UgaBYTES] Telemedicine links Africans to Indian expertise

[Michael Gurstein]

This may be of interest (not quite a community informatics approach, but...
 
MG
 

Gurstein, Michael (2007) What is Community Informatics (and Why Does It
Matter)? POLIMETRICA, Milan 

 
<http://eprints.rclis.org/archive/00012372/01/WHAT_IS_COMMUNITY_INFORMATICS_
reading.pdf>
http://eprints.rclis.org/archive/00012372/01/WHAT_IS_COMMUNITY_INFORMATICS_r
eading.pdf

 

Michael Gurstein, Ph.D.

Centre for Community Informatics Research, Training and Development

Ste. 2101-989 Nelson St.

Vancouver BC CANADA v6z 2s1

 <http://www.communityinformatics.net/> http://www.communityinformatics.net

tel./fax +1-604-602-0624

 

-----Original Message-----
From: ugabytes-bounces at lists.ugabytes.org
[mailto:ugabytes-bounces at lists.ugabytes.org] On Behalf Of Nasikye Esther
Sent: April 7, 2008 7:15 AM
To: ugabytes at lists.ugabytes.org
Subject: [UgaBYTES] Telemedicine links Africans to Indian expertise



ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Troubled by a difficult case, doctor Asfaw Atnafu
decides to seek advice. He walks into a consulting room at Black Lion
Hospital in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa and greets a doctor at the Care
Hospital in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad.

Linked by a high-speed Internet connection, the doctors study X-rays and
laboratory results. Flipping between charts, they use light pens to point
out important features. They can see each other in windows on their screens,
while medical charts fill the rest of the display.

India launched this "telemedicine" project in Ethiopia last July at a cost
of $2.13 million. The project links hospitals in Ethiopia with the
Hyderabad-based Care Group of Hospitals, India's leading cardiac institute. 
The scheme is part of the pan-African e-network, a 5.42 billion-rupee
($135.6-million) joint initiative between the African Union and India which
was launched in Ethiopia last year to improve Internet links and
communication.

India is likely to highlight its prowess in information communication
technology (ICT) as a way of strengthening ties at summit of African heads
of state in New Delhi on April 8 and 9 -- the first meeting of its kind. 
"By using telemedicine, a country like Ethiopia, a Third World country with
a problem with funding and manpower, can benefit greatly," radiologist Asfaw
said.

There is just one doctor for every 37,000 people in Ethiopia -- sub- Saharan
Africa's second most populous country and a land where vast distances
separate rural communities.

"Rural parts of the country are devoid of medical care. This technology has
already helped, but its scope is immense," said Asfaw.

Under the scheme, the Black Lion, Ethiopia's only teaching hospital, has
also been linked to the remote Nekempte Hospital, 300 km (185 miles) west of
Addis Ababa. 
"We want Africans to share expertise with each other and for areas with few
doctors to be linked to hospitals in cities so doctors there can fill the
gap," said Ratan Singh, project director for the Indian  government agency
responsible for implementing the technology and training Ethiopians to use
it.

Ethiopia's health problems are mirrored across Africa where doctors and
nurses are often overworked and underpaid, villagers have to walk miles to
the nearest clinic and drugs and treatment are often beyond the means of
ordinary people. 
Aggravating these problems, rich countries are poaching so many African
health workers that a team of international disease experts recently said
the practice should be viewed as a crime.

CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGY

The Indian project aims to ease some of these burdens but it also dovetails
with the country's drive to deepen its links with resource- rich Africa to
secure energy supplies and markets.
With ambitious plans to connect Africa's 53 countries using satellites and
fiber-optic links with each other and with India, India hopes TO sell more
telecoms equipment and services to Africa's fledgling ICT markets before
rival China steps in.

Since the one-year pilot project began in Ethiopia, doctors at the Black
Lion hospital have used the link more than 50 times to discuss cases with
Indian doctors, Asfaw said.
The Care Group is also in talks to extend the telemedicine program to
Nigeria and Libya.

Indian officials estimate that 100 patients in Africa have benefited from
the pan-African e-network which is plugged in to 12 specialist hospitals in
India. 
The Ethiopian project uses fiber-optic technology and a satellite hub is
being built in Senegal, to be used once the pilot ends.

"Indian doctors have been very excited by this development," said India's
ambassador to Ethiopia, Gurjit Singh. "They see it as providing the cutting
edge of Indian healthcare and education at low- cost to Africans." 
India plans to fund the projects and train Africans for five years before
handing the scheme over to African countries.

LONG-TERM TIES

At the Black Lion, patients throng the corridors and rooms, the lucky ones
sitting on wooden benches while others lean against the peeling walls and
some lie on the floor.
Cocooned from the chaos, the four rooms housing the Indian-funded
telemedicine equipment are an oasis of calm.

Computer servers whirr in a corner as Indian technicians ensure things work
smoothly and chat to colleagues back home.

Hyderabad's Care Hospital has also trained 12 Tanzanian surgeons, nurses and
technicians in the past year, and treated children suffering congenital
heart problems free of charge.

"Our doctors will go there (to Tanzania) and make the local surgeons conduct
surgeries in their presence. This will boost their morale,"
L. V. Rajendra Kumar, who heads business development for the Care Group of
Hospitals, told Reuters.

Ambassador Singh said India's involvement in these projects was separate
from its attempts to capture a share of the continent's resources.

"We are the beneficiaries of a relationship between Africa and India that is
based on long-term historical friendship," he said. "Colonization is a
one-way street but I think the India-Africa relationship is most clearly
two-way."


Source: http://africa.reuters.com/   


-- 
Esther Nasikye
Community Content Facilitator
UgaBYTES Initiative 
Plot 2218 Ggaba Road
Kampala, Uganda
Tel: 25641370163
skype:esther.nasikye