Medical decision support systems in Africa

OBJECTIVE: To present an overview of the current state of computer-based medical decision support systems in Africa in the areas of public health, patient care, and consumer support. METHODS: Scientific and gray literature reviews complemented by expert interviews. RESULTS: Various domains of decision support are developed and deployed in Sub-Saharan Africa: public health information systems, clinical decision-support systems, and patient-centred decision-support systems. CONCLUSIONS: Until recently, most of these systems have been deployed by international organizations without a real ownership policy entrusted to the African stakeholders. Many of these endeavours have remained or ceased at the experimentation stage. The multiplicity of organizations has led to the deployment of fragmented systems causing serious interoperability problems. In addition to basic infrastructures, these studies also highlight the importance of good organization, training and support, as key to the success and sustainability of these decision support systems

Can ICTs Contribute to the Efficiency and Provide Equitable Access to the Health Care System in Sub-Saharan Africa? The Mali Experience

The aim of this study is to demonstrate from actual projects that ICT can contribute to the balance of health systems in developing countries and to equitable access to human resources and quality health care service. Our study is focused on two essential elements which are: i) Capacity building and support of health professionals, especially those in isolated areas using telemedicine tools; ii) Strengthening of hospital information systems by taking advantage of full potential offered by open-source software

Continuing distance education: a capacity-building tool for the de-isolation of care professionals and researchers

There are large disparities in access to health-care professionals (HCP) in low-income African countries, leading to imbalanced and suboptimal health delivery. Part of the difficulty is recruiting and retaining care professionals to work in isolated settings

Deploying portable ultrasonography with remote assistance for isolated physicians in Africa: lessons from a pilot study in Mali

OBJECTIVE: Demonstrate the feasibility of deploying portable ultrasonography with remote assistance to improve the diagnostic capabilities of isolated physicians in Africa. METHODS: The approach is based on the training of general practitioners for the use of ultrasonography, and the remote support by radiologists using dedicated tools for image transfer over low-bandwidth internet connections. RESULTS: Our early results in a pilot project in Mali show that this approach is feasible, and that isolated physicians can productively use ultrasonography to improve diagnosis and management decisions such as the need for a medical evacuation towards a reference hospital. CONCLUSION: These encouraging early results must be confirmed by larger-scale studies, in order to better understand the organizational requirements and demonstrate outcomes and return on investments for such telemedicine services. This scale-up project will start in 2010 in collaboration with the International Development Research Center of Canada

Social Network and Health Researchers and Professionals Mobility in Africa: Lessons Learned from AFRICA BUILD Project

Promote mobility between South-South and South-North for improving level of researchers, staff and students through a platform