5 Dr. J Amuzu FINAL EHealth Ghana 10-11 June 09090831045001

8/6/2019 5 Dr. J Amuzu FINAL EHealth Ghana 10-11 June 09090831045001

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11/08/2011 Commonwealth Secretariat 1

The CommonwealthThe Commonwealth

53 nationsone community


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ECOSOC Africa Regional Ministerial meeting on e-health use

of information and communication technology for health

10-11 June 2009

Accra, Ghana

A presentation by the Commonwealth Secretariat

Addressing e-health policies and strategies in the

Commonwealth

by

Dr Joseph Amuzu

Adviser, Health Section

Commonwealth Secretariat



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Where are we?

The May 2008 Commonwealth Health

Ministers Meeting (CHMM) focused on e-

health.

An e-health survey results from the

Commonwealth was presented at themeeting.



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Challenges identified in the survey

E-health initiatives

varied widely

Isolated e-health

Change management

The scale and time of

implementation

Financing e-health

Technological

challenges

Ethical Challenges



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Varied e-health initiatives

Multiple examples of e-health in health

manpower training, development of HIS

Fewer examples for procurement/logistics,

leadership training, clinical service delivery

Initiatives not linked to coherent strategy,

uncoordinated, donor supported, mainly with

NGOs



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Change management

E-health is additional work without remuneration

We need to perceive technology as an additional tool to

facilitate improved efficiency in the delivery of health

care and not as a monster waiting to expose us

The need for training for Ministry staff and serviceproviders in computer literacy; the design of newclinical and working practices; user support and

project management.

A lot of technophobia among staff and senior officers.

11/08/2011 6Commonwealth Secretariat


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Financing e-health

Commonwealth countries report that the mainfinancial challenges relate to equipment andtelecommunications infrastructure

Projects were financed by a mixture of public anddonor funds.

The benefits of e-health for developing countriesare well known but the financial costs are not.

Few case studies on the financial costs of e-healthin developing countries.



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Predominant issue identified in survey waspatient privacy and confidentiality of medicalrecords

There may be a trade off between improvedquality and access versus the risk of reducedsecurity and confidentiality

Intellectual property rights between public andprivate sectors must be clarified

Legal and ethical issuesLegal and ethical issues



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E-health requires long term planning betweenHealth, Finance andTechnology Ministries/sectors

Simpler technology often pro

duces better results

Financial sustainability can be a challenge for e-health

ICT that reaches rural areas may contribute moreto MDGs than urban interventions

Lessons LearnedLessons Learned



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The CHMM 2008 mandated the Commonwealth

Secretariat to work in e-health.

The specific mandates were:

Con

vene high-le

vel consultations in

volving Ministers

of Health and Ministers with responsibility for ICTs;

Promote the exchange of e-health expertise between

Commonwealth countries;

Seek funding to support interventions.

11/08/2011 Commonwealth Secretariat


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1. Ministerial Dialogues

One Dialogue held for Ministers of Health & Ministers

responsible for ICT from the East, Central and Southern

Africa (ECSA) region.

The aim was to:

Enable ministries for health and technology to share

information and collaborate effectively;

Support health ministries in developing realistic,

affordable e-health strategies and investment plans;

Expand e-health capacity and capabilities.



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Outcomes of the Dialogue

Ministers identified some issues of concern

ICT and health policies and strategies

e-legislation in the ECSA region

e-health standards

e-health infrastructure

Capacity and the need for capacity-building in

ICTs

They requested reviews of these challenges They identified priority areas for action and

Set up a technical working group on e-health



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The priority actions

Ministers requested the Commonwealth

Secretariat and its partners to help:

countries develop their policies and strategies

countries develop guidelines on equipment

procurement and ICT sourcing strategy

in designing tools for auditing existing health

informatics and telemedicine training

establish health sector-wide training programmes

including leadership training on e-health and ICT



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2. The technical working group

The TWG included representatives from Uganda, Kenya,

Mozambique, WHO/AFRO, AU and was supported by an expert

from South Africa.

The TWG was tasked to:

review the main approaches to e-health policies and

strategies and

to draft a framework for an assessment of the status of e-health in the region.



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Results

A methodology and templates for e-health policies and

strategies developed

A questionnaire for the assessment of the status of e-health

developed

It is a tool for auditing existing e-health infrastructure and capacity

based on WHO and Bellagio frameworks.



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The methodology

The methodology involves bringing together all

stakeholders: Ministries of Health, IC

Tan

d

Finance, civil society, the private sector mainly

telecom companies, doctors and nurses

associations anddevelopment partners.

The information from the templates proves to

be useful in developing the policy and strategy.

The Templates

Is based on e-health Strategy Loop



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E-health Strategy Loop

Benefits Realisation Plan

eHealthInvestment Plan

Affordability and Finance

ChangeICTPossibilities

Leadership

Health and Healthcare Strategies

ICT Priorities Implementation

GeneralDevelopment

Plans

EvaluationReview andFeedback

Capacity



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Leadership

Who are the leaders?

Who should they lead?

What skills and knowledge do theyneed?


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Change management

Identify stakeholders & needs

Continuous stakeholder engagement

Explain the changes, the new ways of

working new competencesuse of technology

changes in procurement models

increase need for programme and

project managementmore training

It is a whole organisational culture change


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0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50

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3. Collaboration with Kenya

The methodology and templates for e-healthpolicies and strategies were pretested by theKenyan Ministry of Medical Services.

A strategic planning workshop was held inKenya, taking forward two key issues that arosefrom the Ministerial Dialogue.

How to frame anddevelop an e-health policy and

strategy for Kenya

Scoping anddelivering an e-health readiness

review in Kenya.



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Collaboration with ICT suppliers

Cisco Systems is supporting the

Commonwealth Secretariat with the

Ministerial High-Level Dialogues.

The Health Section is also in discussion with

Microsoft to identify collaborati

ve work an

d

funding support for the Secretariat eHealth

programme.



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The next steps

Strengthen partnerships, working together withMinistries of Health & ICT, International

Organisations, AU, Regional Health Organisations,

private sector and civil society.

Initiate the cycle of work taking place in the ECSA

region in West African and other regions of the

Commonwealth:

Ministerial High Level Dialogues

Support continental, regional and country e-health policy

and strategy development processes

Support country level stakeholder consultations using the-



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Thank you

The CommonwealthThe Commonwealth53 nations

one community

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5 Dr. J Amuzu FINAL EHealth Ghana 10-11 June 09090831045001