tailieunhanh - Improving health, connecting people: the role of ICTs in the health sector of developing countries

Although the idea that medicine and health transcend geographic boundaries is not new, it is taking a long time for it to be fully integrated into . medical education and practice. Over the last 20 years, globalization of all sectors of society, including business, media and education, has been expedited and facilitated by the internet/computer revolution. However, the discipline of international health (or as it is now being termed, ìglobal healthî) in its current form has evolved over the last 150 years. The roots of international health can be traced to. | Improving health connecting people the role of ICTs in the health sector of developing countries A framework paper Edited by Andrew Chetley with contributions by Jackie Davies Bernard Trude Harry McConnell Roberto Ramirez T Shields Peter Drury J Kumekawa J Louw G Fereday Caroline Nyamai-Kisia InfoDev Task Manager J. Dubow 31 May 2006 HEALTHLINK WORLDWIDE 1 f -ỈA fua J ISHED This paper is part of a study commissioned by the infoDev program Grant no. 1254 - page 1 Executive Summary This framework paper is aimed at policy makers who are involved in the development or management of programmes in the health sector in developing countries. It provides a snapshot of the type of information and communication technology ICT interventions that are being used in the health sector and the policy debates around ICTs and health. It draws from the experience of use in both the North and South but with a focus on applicability in the South to identify the most effective and relevant uses of ICTs. The paper describes the major constraints and challenges faced in using ICTs effectively in the health sector of developing countries. It draws out good practice for using ICTs in the health sector identifies major players and stakeholders and highlights priority needs and issues of relevance to policy makers. The paper also looks at emerging trends in technologies that are likely to shape ICT use in the health sector and identifies gaps in knowledge. For the purposes of this paper ICTs are defined as tools that facilitate communication and the processing and transmission of information by electronic means. This definition encompasses the full range of ICTs from radio and television to telephones fixed and mobile computers and the Internet. This paper sees health as a complex interaction of biomedical social economic and political determinants. It places the discussion of health firmly in the poverty and development debates and pays particular attention to how ICTs .