The Challenges

Sub-Saharan Africa is the part of the world where health issues are the most critical. Of the 57 nations worldwide suffering from a shortage of health personnel, as expressed by the World Health Organization, 36 are in Africa, with 0.21 doctors for every 1,000 people. Sub-Saharan Africa has just 1.3 percent healthcare workers, yet it bears over 25 percent of the global disease burden.

First, it must eradicate endemic diseases such as malaria, AIDS, and tuberculosis and fight against chronic diseases such as cancer and diabetes. Added to these are emerging infectious diseases such as Ebola, COVID-19, and Monkeypox. Issues regarding the support of the health systems are critical in Africa. Most African governments still need to accomplish the targets set in the Abuja Declaration of 2001, in which nations agreed to dispense 15 percent of their national budgets to health.

Sub-Saharan Africa is affected by challenges and health service shortages at different levels and in all countries. To overcome these challenges, considerable efforts have been made by national and International organizations, but they often need concrete results.

Our Approach

Digital health could provide an opportunity to develop Sub-Saharan Africa's health systems, given the high penetration rate of mobile cell phones and mobile phone usage.

The benefits of digital health include:
1- Better patient care increased revenue from health centers
2- Help increase revenue from health centers
3- More quality data for decision-makers
4- Decreased number of medical referrals and the prices of care, and ease of access to the restricted number of specialists given the shortage of doctors in several health facilities, especially in rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa.

Learning; We use numerous digital learning platforms to provide clinically relevant and up-to-date content. For example, in Gambia, we contributed to developing an open-source, mobile-based learning platform that dramatically enhanced health workers' knowledge of essential maternal and newborn health care and the quality of care they deliver to their clients. In Congo, Bonjour Nurse, an interactive story app, supports educating new mothers about malaria.

Networks of Care; Critical data collection and patient-tracking systems are the backbones of robust health systems. For example, in Burundi, we helped develop a mobile application to help identify people with active tuberculosis and link them to treatment and care. In Mali, a mobile application used in a demonstration project to use self-collected samples for HPV testing has helped ensure prompt provider-to-client communication of test results, linkage to further evaluation and proper treatment, and program management.

Health Management Information Systems; We have implemented various electronic information systems to analyze, collect, and share health information among healthcare facilities and countries. For example, in Mozambique, we supported the development of eSIP-Saúde, a human resource information system that helps manage and ensure training for over 5,000 health workers. In Ghana, through the Maternal and Child Health Integrated Program, we helped develop an information management system to support routine immunization. An integrated mobile messaging platform sent SMS (text message) reminders to caregivers, vaccinators, and community focal persons.

Social and Behavior Change Communications; We use a socioecological lens to determine the multifaceted individual and environmental factors that influence human behavior, leveraging technology to reach populations with the information they most need. For example, in Togo, we created a Facebook page to promote adolescent and youth reproductive health advocacy and supported a 24-hour teen health hotline. In Tanzania, we supported the development of an SMS system to help educate the population about voluntary medical male circumcision (VMMC) and where to find the services.

Quality; Digital tools are essential in helping standardized assessments of facility readiness, client perceptions of care, and service delivery timeliness and appropriateness. Digital technology is a crucial factor that will expand universal health coverage. It will eliminate several barriers, such as prices, lack of quality of care, and complicated access, while extending the range of services, especially in regions with limited infrastructure and personnel.