TELEMEDICINE: A Key to Improve Healthcare Delivery in Remote Areas in Africa

The world is fast evolving, and no part is to be left behind. Not even the most remote places in
Africa. Healthcare delivery has been a huge challenge to Africa as a whole, but the advent of
Telemedicine seeks to salvage the poor healthcare condition and bring hope to the hopeless,
irrespective of where the homes of patients are located. Using ICT, telemedicine bridges the
gap between doctors in remote areas and specialists in other parts of the world. It seeks to bring
treatment plans to the doorsteps of remote area dwellers, to help ensure that patients are not
forced to travel long distances in search of healthcare. However, the beauty of telemedicine has
been attacked by various circumstances that include poor government policies, low physician
density, computer illiteracy, no internet etc. Several measures are to be adopted and
implemented if telemedicine is to be of great relevance in Africa. Once they are activated,
telemedicine is bound to revolutionize the health sector, which would bring about an increase
in life expectancy among native Africans.