For less than 25,000 Euros, a district hospital can be equipped with a life-saving telemedicine unit. Here is an opportunity for local authorities and businesses to take concrete action to promote development.

 

 

he DSF and the WHO have launched a project to install 1000 telemedicine units in Africa. This programme is particularly geared towards businesses and local authorities in industrialised countries that are keen to contribute to the delivery of effective medical treatment in the third world.

Presented in Geneva on 5 March 2008 by the President of the DSF, Mr. Alain Madelin, the “1000 telemedicine units for Africa” programme will equip every district hospital in Africa with modern diagnostic tools and an Internet connection. Training of hospital staff will also be provided. This Africa-wide project has been prompted by the isolation of doctors and a shortage of diagnostic equipment within the district hospital system, resulting in unnecessary patient suffering, explained Mr. Alain Madelin.

The beneficiary hospitals will be linked to African and European support networks, enabling them to access worldclass expertise and obtain quick solutions to complex medical cases. These networks (such as RAFT, an initiative of the Geneva University Hospitals) have a pool of medical and technical specialists in various African and European countries. Other partners have also pledged their support for this programme: the World Francophone e-University, the Francophone Virtual Medical University in Paris, the e-Health Unit of the World Health Organisation, and the EMISPHER telemedicine network led by the Charité Hospital in Berlin.

The DSF has launched an appeal to businesses and local authorities to finance one or more telemedicine units for African hospitals, at the cost of approximately 25,000 Euros per installation.