Workshop on Healthcare ICT in Ghana · 12. October 2011
STAKEHOLDERS ATTEND ONE-DAY WORKSHOP ON Healthcare ICT
CMI Aalborg University and Ghana Telecom University College (GTUC) organized a one day Stakeholders workshop in ICT and the health sector gathered at GTUC on 4th October 2011.
The workshop was part of the Health-platform of the Danish BSU (Building Stronger Universities in Developing Countries) initiative. The main objective of the workshop was to examine the potentials of and interest in research to apply ICT in Ghana’s health sector particularly in four core areas: Telemedicine and mobile health, ICT and National Health Insurance, ICT and Health Information Management, and ICT and Quality Health Assurance.
The workshop brought together experts from academia and research institutions, health delivery practitioners, ICT service providers, and policy makers.
In an address to welcome participants, the President of the GTUC, Dr Osei K. Darkwa, highlighted some of the challenges that confront Ghana’s health sector and observed that one plausible way out was to explore how ICT could be leveraged to address the challenges in health delivery in Ghana.
In a statement, Prof Knud Erik Skouby of the Aalborg University gave the background in BSU to the workshop and his University’s collaboration with the GTUC, adding that the collaboration was borne out of the basic idea of this initiative to coordinate research activities in developing countries. He said the collaboration offered the opportunity for more coordinated teaching and research activities, and also for Denmark to build capacity and share experiences with collaborating countries.
The workshop presentations included:
- Telemedicine /E-Health: Contemporary Trends and the Way Forward: By Prof Fred Binka, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Legon. The presentation focused on case studies where community healthcare delivery practitioners were being trained in the use of ICT to improve on the efficiency of healthcare delivery in communities.
- ICT and National Health Insurance: Performance, Key Challenges and Impact of ICT – Dr Wisdom Atiwoto, School of Public Health, University of Ghana, Legon. The presentation focused on the state of affairs of the national health insurance scheme and how ICT was being deployed to address some the challenges.
- ICT and Health Information Management – What do we know about Health Information Management Systems in Ghana: Future Trends – Joint Presentation by Dr Emmanuel Adjei & Mr. Bonney. The presentation was a case study of the Bekwai Government Hospital and how ICT had been deployed to enhance medical records keeping.
- HealthCare Quality Assurance and ICT – Prof Matilda Steiner –Asiedu. The presentation highlighted how ICT could be used to enhance quality and improve efficiency in healthcare delivery.
Reports from the various discussion groups at the end of the workshop, among other things, called for the need for adequate investment in building the ICT infrastructural base of the country, major needs for more education and training in the area, mainstreaming ICT into the curriculum of health training institutions, working towards an integrated national database and researching into the critical areas of the use of ICT in healthcare delivery.
