[afro-nets] Request for your participation in a Telemedicine Survey (2)

General afro-nets
1

Request for your participation in a Telemedicine Survey (2)
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Dear Colleagues,

I was working in Malawi on the Mozambican refugee crisis back in
1987 (I think). The capacity of local hospitals to handle a big-
ger load was an issue, and of course AIDS was starting to be a
matter of growing concern.

During a visit to a hospital (some hundreds of kilometres from
Lilongwe) I asked the Medical Director about the reporting of
AIDS statistics. He laughed at me, and suggested that with five
times the medical case load that the staff and the facilities
could handle, reporting statistics was a rather low priority.
The papers got sent in (because otherwise the facility would be
in trouble) but the data certainly did not reflect much more
than a set of random numbers.

I visited the wards. TB and starvation were prominent killers...

I visited the stock rooms. Very little medicine. Very little
supplies. A lot of medicine out of date... to be stored in a
cool place... stock room temperature more than 100 degrees F.

From more recent visits to various parts of Africa, it seems
that the situation in many places is far worse now than it was
in 1987.

Now exactly how is telemedicine meant to work? A medical situa-
tion happens in Africa... and the data is then communicated
somewhere, and a decision is made to treat the ailment with a
drug (say) AAA. The hospital staff go to the dispensary for drug
AAA... but it is not there, and cannot be because the health
ministry and the hospital has only a tiny budget... and the pa-
tients have essentially no money... and it is quite possible
that the medical staff pay is late by many months, even years.

So my question is, before we do the telemedicine study, maybe we
should think triage and study what on earth we can do to get
more resources where they can do some good in the hospitals and
clinics around Africa.

Instead of funding this telemedicine study, I would suggest that
the donors would get more results from simply getting the prior-
ity needs of hospitals and clinics funded somehow.

Wasting money on what Africa does not need seems to be very sad,
and just not what we should be doing at this time.

If I am missing something, I would be delighted to know.

Sincerely

Peter Burgess
CCSD Foundation / C-WISP / Tr-Ac-Net in New York
Tel: +1-212 772 6918
mailto:peterb@afrifund.com
mailto:tracnet@gmail.com
http://www.afrifund.com
http://TDUD.blogspot.com
http://taame.blogspot.com
http://CCSDinNY.blogspot.com
http://Tr-Ac-Net.blogspot.com
http://CCSD-WISP.blogspot.com
http://CCSD-ICT.blogspot.com
http://CCSD-Issues.blogspot.com

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You are right. Africa (Malawi) we are being heaped with a lot of
things we do not need. What Africa, our Malawi needs, is food,
medication, good water.

Linda
mailto:masm@malawi.net

3

Request for your participation in a Telemedicine Survey (3)
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Right on Peter.

So much is being said about telemedicine and the exchange of
ideas between African Physicians and their colleagues in the
West. This is not a bad idea. There are benefits from such ex-
change but the emphasis on telemedicine in day to day health
care is inappropriate.

Despite the problems on the continent and diminishing standards,
the African Physician is in most cases still a well trained
medical practitioner competent in treating ailments relevant to
his locale. The main problem is the lack of tools to work with
(diagnostic capacity and drugs) and further down the spectrum a
lack of stimulation access to current information, poor wages
and the daily struggle for their own survival.

Donors should please fund projects needed by and relevant Africa
and not just conjure something to their benefit.

Ifedayo Adetifa
mailto:ifedayo_tiffy@yahoo.com