Rural African lives are being transformed by clinics with computers and scanners donated to Computer Aid | 04/01/2010
Computer Aid has been providing computers, scanners and cameras for use in telemedicine in East Africa. Last month the Independent journalist Daniel Howden visited one the projects benefiting from these donations in Kenya.
In Sub-Saharan African countries there are, on average, just 12 doctors per 100,000 people – compared to 340 in Europe. The cost of medical education is prohibitive for most people and many qualified specialist health professionals are tempted overseas where they can command far higher salaries. The result is that, especially in rural areas, people cannot access the medical support that people in the UK take for granted.
Through this project, isolated and inexperienced health workers can send X-ray images, medical notes and digital photographs of critically ill patients for fast, expert clinical diagnostic support from specialist doctors hundreds of miles away. They are able to use the laptops, digital cameras and scanners on the front line against some of Africa’s biggest killers: HIV/AIDS, respiratory diseases, malaria, TB and water-borne infections.
The project is a dramatic illustration of just some of the ways in which the simple application of Information Technology enables dedicated and resourceful African doctors to apply their skills across geographical boundaries – benefiting people who would otherwise be unable to get treatment.
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Taking a digital photo of a wound using a Computer Aid donated camera in Moi District Hospital, a rural hospital in Voi, Kenya.
