Mobile health will play a significant role, as part of e-health initiatives, in realising its ICT strategy, says the Department of Communications (DOC).
Speaking at the inaugural summit on mobile health last week, deputy minister Obed Bapela said SA has been chosen to host the next three summits by Global Society Mobile Health and the Mobile Health Alliance.
He added that the summit's aim is to come up with practical solutions, relevant to developing countries, on how mobile health can help improve healthcare delivery.
Essential tool
“In the past, a nation's wealth was largely a function of its endowment of natural resources, its labour force and its accumulated capital base. The 'new' wealth of nations place increasing emphasis on knowledge in its various embodied forms,” said the deputy minister.
He also said ICT permits information and knowledge to expand in quantity and accessibility, thus having enormous potential, especially for developing countries, in furthering sustainable development.
Government has formulated an Information Society and Development Plan, which recognises the value of ICT as an essential tool for development and improving the lives of people in rural areas.
The DOC's ICT strategy advocates digital inclusion to ensure there is access to basic services through ICT, said Bapela. “Mobile health can indeed play a significant role as part of e-health initiatives in realising this strategy.”
Strengthening effectiveness
He said the mobile health plan should be rooted in the country's Negotiated Service Delivery Agreement (NSDA), which aims for “a long and healthy life for all South Africans”.
The NSDA is the country's response to address HIV, AIDS, TB, child and maternal deaths, non-communicable diseases and violence and injuries.
Bapela suggested that a wide-scale application of innovative technologies must be able to demonstrate measurable and tangible results to increasing life expectancy, addressing the NSDA's target areas, and strengthening health system effectiveness.
The Department of Health is in the process of finalising the draft e-health strategy and revising the country's telemedicine strategy. Mobile health (m-health) will find its expression with these strategies.
Investment drive
“The advent of mobile technology and the high mobile phone penetration in the country are among the key proponents for mobile health in SA,” said Bapela.
He said it should not be seen in isolation, but viewed within the context of e-health applications.
”ICT infrastructure is a critical component for e-health development, including m-health. Foreign investment in African telecommunications infrastructure is steadily increasing, and this is hoped to drive the development of mobile health solutions.”
Johan Smith, director of the Africa Telecommunications Group at KPMG SA, says many countries including SA, Ghana and Pakistan are benefiting from m-health solutions.
“There is growing recognition that Africa is an investment destination. This is enabled by regulatory reforms to encourage development of the telecoms sector.”
However, Bapela said there are a number of hurdles that SA has to overcome before mobile health becomes part of the mainstream healthcare service delivery. “Paramount to these is the question of affordability, which is very critical for adoption of this emerging technology.”
He added that industry must produce empirical evidence that shows that SA can sustain the use of technology for day-to-day healthcare service, and mobile health must also comply with privacy and confidentiality regulations.
Beyond pilot
“Our role as government is to create a conducive environment for growth of mobile technologies in SA, so that they can make a meaningful contribution especially to the key priority areas of government such as health, education and job creation.
“We can only do this by ensuring that we develop ICT policies and legislation that create this growth in mobile technologies.”
Bapela said the Independent Communications Authority of SA continues to develop relevant legislation and regulations within the mobile technology arena such as those related to radio frequency spectrum, as well as licensing for mobile operators.
“As government, we will continue to strive to reduce the digital divide and improve access to ICT for all our people in SA by making meaningful investments towards the necessary resources such as human capital, technical expertise and broadband network infrastructure.”
“We expect mobile health to live beyond pilot projects to the main stream delivery of the needed healthcare services in SA, Africa as a whole and other developing countries.”
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