DIGITAL SHARING IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

Dr Y Ramsamy

FC Path (Microbiology) (SA)

MMed (Microbiology)

National Health Laboratory Services

South Africa

Connect,Contact and Help

• Information technology is rapidly changing economic and social activities.

• Provides opportunities and challenges for making progress with accelerated growth and poverty reduction in Africa.

• Possible for students to study and carry out research using the electronic networks to reach remote universities and libraries.

• Information and telecommunication innovations present opportunities for "leapfrog" strategies accelerate the development of the continent.

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Problems and Possible Solutions in Africa• Educational problems are related to inadequate funding and inefficient use of available

resources.

• Information technology offers a wide range of low-cost solutions.

• Distance education in Africa - defined to include print, broadcasting, and limited face-to-face

education – has been used to pursue educational needs.

• The main advantages economical, flexibility, and suitability for widely scattered student bodies.

• Information technology has the potential to connect African educational institutions continent-wide, and link them with international universities, hence, facilitating research specifically laboratory research and the exchange of ideas.

The ZAMBIAN experience• Zambia, 2nd country in Southern Africa to achieve full Internet connectivity and has made

valuable educational use of the Internet.

• 1991 - University of Zambia medical library obtained e-mail connectivity with the University of Florida medical library.

• Possible for university departments to upgrade research capability; share ideas regarding laboratory practices, obtain relatively cheap access to information; and, in doing so improve the quality of overall laboratory services and essentially translating to better patient outcomes.  

• Improvement in the teaching safe laboratory practices and graduate students' research projects and assignments.

• Research has been improved by accessing research information and publications available in the richly endowed data banks of developed countries at relatively low cost.  

• Connectivity to the Internet induced research collaboration between Zambian and other researchers.

• It also provided an efficient means for graduate students to consult with their academic supervisors in Zambia and abroad.

• Additionally, internet connectivity became a major source of income with the system becoming self-financing within a year.

The AVU is a satellite-based distance education project initiated by the World Bank in 1995.

•The AVU offers an example of the power of modern information technologies to increase access to desperately needed educational resources in Africa.

•Objectives of AVU include : education and training of world-class scientists, technicians, researchers, engineers, business managers, health care providers, and other professionals needed to support economic development in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA).

•This type of digital sharing also offers training and seminars for motivated students without the necessary qualifications to meet university entrance requirements and electronic library services.

Closer to home...

• South Africa is more fortunate than most African countries able to offer assistance to less fortunate populations.

• Certain areas of expertise compared to other African countries.

• Collaboration with developed countries via digital sharing to assist other SSA countries with regard to Health Care and Diagnostics.

• Provides information to health-care providers and medical staff enabling them to make decisions regarding patient care.

Enhancement health administration and management through the provision of medical information systems

• (i) offer simple, efficient, and cost-effective solutions to urgent healthcare problems facing the SSA countries.

• (ii) develop an international network for resource sharing digital satellite and

computer - based academic resources (The Global Health Network).

• (ii) serve students and health care providers to provide educational resources such as updated laboratory procedures that may otherwise be unavailable.

• (iv) Provide academic seminars.

A Healthier and Happier with digital sharing