Digital solutions have potential to ease healthcare access

Uganda, like many countries on the African continent, still faces numerous challenges in the delivery of healthcare services especially in rural areas.
Digital health solutions can help reduce costs by streamlining processes, automating administrative tasks, and providing access to data and analytics. They can also help improve patient outcomes by providing access to personalised care, remote monitoring, and real-time data. Additionally, digital health solutions can help bridge the gap between providers and patients, allowing for better communication and collaboration.

Digital health can be used to improve access to healthcare services, such as telemedicine, which can provide remote access to healthcare professionals. This can help bridge the gap between rural and urban areas, as well as between different countries. Additionally, digital health can be used to improve the quality of care, such as through the use of electronic health records, which can help healthcare providers’ better track and manage patient care. It can also be used to improve the efficiency of healthcare delivery, such as through the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate certain processes. 

This can help reduce the burden on healthcare providers, freeing up their time to focus on providing quality care. Finally, digital health can be used to improve the affordability of healthcare services, such as through the use of mobile payment systems, which can help reduce the cost of accessing healthcare services. It is an important lever for achieving universal health coverage in Uganda and the rest of Africa through improving access, quality, efficiency, and affordability of healthcare services, which are all essential for achieving universal health coverage.
Uganda and much of Africa face challenges including inadequate infrastructure, lack of access to healthcare services, lack of trained healthcare personnel, and lack of financial resources.
In addition, there is a lack of awareness of health issues and limited access to health information.

Women are key
A meeting, convened by the African Union Commission (AUC) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) in Rwanda’s capital in Kigali Rwanda underscored the importance of digital health for Africa's development and agreed on a number of actions to promote the integration of women into the digital economy, with a focus on digital health.
These include: Accelerating the adoption of innovative digital health solutions, including mobile health (mHealth), eHealth and telemedicine, which can improve access to quality health services for women and girls.  Enhancing the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to support the collection, analysis and sharing of data on women's and girls' health. - Promoting the training and education of women in digital health, including in the use of ICTs for health.

Encouraging the participation of women in the design, development and implementation of digital health policies and programmes. Supporting the creation of women-led digital health enterprises and entrepreneurship.
"Africa has a unique opportunity to harness the power of digital health to improve the health of women and girls and achieve sustainable development," says Dr. Matshidiso Moeti, WHO Regional Director for Africa. "The African Union Commission and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa are committed to working with partners to remove the barriers that prevent women from participating fully in the digital economy."
"Africa is on the move. We are seeing impressive economic growth and rising levels of integration. To sustain this momentum, it is essential that we focus on the empowerment of women and girls," adds Dr. Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

New movement
During the second International Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA), the African Women in Digital Health movement was launched in Kigali.
African Women in Digital Health is a multi-sectoral movement that brings together stakeholders from a variety of fields, including digital, gender, and global health. Its goal is to close the gender digital divide and ensure efficient collaboration across all fields to support women's leadership and participation in digital health. Interventions directed at policymakers, the business community, and other stakeholders will concentrate on increasing the skills of women in the digital industry, fostering a climate that supports women entrepreneurs, and funding women's digital health projects.

"Women already play a crucial role in our health systems in Africa. Establishing the 'African Women in Digital Health' movement to promote their place in the digital health ecosystem is key to achieving health equity," notes Jean Philbert Nsengimana, Chief Digital Health Officer, Center for Disease Control (CDC) Africa.
Women currently represent only 30 per cent of researchers and innovators in Africa, while they represent over 50 per cent of the general population, says Dr Maïmouna Diop Ly, Public Health and Financing Advisor of the Dakar, Senegal based Speak Up Africa.
“The African Women in Digital Health movement will help reverse this trend and remove the barriers that prevent women from fully participating in digital health. It is important to invest in capacity building in leadership and innovation for women in digital health to ensure that their specific health needs are truly addressed," she says.

A barcode system, for example, has been piloted in some Ugandan health facilities as a means to improve stock management and reduce stock-outs. The barcode system is used to track the movement of medical supplies from the storeroom to the point of use and back. When a health worker scans a barcode on a medical supply, the system records the date, time, and location of the scan. This information can be used to generate reports on stock levels and consumption patterns. The barcode system has been found to be an effective way to improve stock management and reduce stock-outs. However, the system is not currently being used in all Ugandan health facilities. There is a need to standardize the barcode system and to ensure that all health facilities have the necessary computer resources to use the system.
A digital data management system can help to improve the quality and accuracy of data collected at healthcare facilities. This system can also help to improve communication between healthcare personnel and patients. Additionally, the system can help to improve the efficiency of data entry and analysis.

To better understand how people use technology to manage their health, a team of researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania surveyed over 1,700 people about their smartphone and health app usage. The survey found that the majority of people use their smartphones to manage their health in some way. People most commonly use their smartphones to track their health data (such as weight, blood pressure, and diet), monitor their symptoms, and access health information. People also use their smartphones to connect with other people who have similar health concerns, to find support and advice, and to track their progress. The survey also found that people who use health apps are more likely to report better health outcomes. People who use health apps are more likely to have better blood pressure, blood sugar, and cholesterol levels, and to be more active. The study's authors say that these findings suggest that smartphones and health apps can be effective tools for managing health. They say that future research should focus on how to best design and use health apps to improve health outcomes.
Internet access makes it very simple to access health-related information. Smartphone and internet usage have increased in Uganda, and these developments should be taken advantage of to engage patients, particularly young people, with innovations that are specifically catered to their requirements and the availability of technology for various patient demographics.

The Uganda National eHealth Strategy: 2017–2021 from the Ministry of Health states that its objective is to "harness and create an enabling environment for the development and utilization of sustainable, ethically sound, and harmonized information and communications technology at all levels to promote health and improve the delivery of health services in Uganda."
A website, application, or other piece of computer or mobile technology that facilitates data collecting, storage, tracking, analysis, or visualization might be considered a digital health tool. The device must have a digital interface. Multiple use cases can be handled by a single digital tool.
This article was produced with the support of Speak Up Africa’s Media fellowship program