Why Developing Countries Like Tanzania Stand to Benefit Most from Digital & TeleHealth.

Digital health has the potential to revolutionize healthcare delivery in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) like Tanzania. Unlike developed countries, where traditional healthcare infrastructure is already established, LMICs often face 3 common challenges: 

1. Lack sufficient resources (gov health budget < 10% of total budget)
2. Shortage of healthcare personnel (While WHO recommends 1 doctor to everyone 1000 people, Tanzania has 1:20,000), 
3. A lack of enough facilities to provide adequate care to their populations. 

As a result we are faced by 3 common consequences:

• Limited access to medical care
• High burden of disease (high morbidity & mortality)
• Caught in a disease-poverty viscous cycle

I know most people would argue that, "It took the Western world hundreds of years to get where they are today," but I disagree. To put it simply, why would we want to be stuck using physical postage letters when we have the ability to send instant emails? No-one would want their loved one to be deprived of such advancements, and so, shouldn't we deprive our health system the possibility of efficient advancements by such beliefs.

It is estimated that over 70% of Tanzanians use a mobile phone on a daily basis - that's over 40 million people! Furthermore, the rate of Internet penetration has more than doubled in just seven years, reaching 49% in 2020. As a result of this increasing availability of mobile devices and internet connectivity, digital health technologies offer a promising solution to these challenges. By embracing these technologies, we can potentially leapfrog over the traditional healthcare delivery process that more developed countries had to undergo.

The following are 3 ways that digital & Tele-health will benefit LMICs!

1. Increased access to care. In Tanzania, for example, many people live in remote or rural areas with a shortage of healthcare personnel. Digital health technologies can help bridge this gap by enabling patients to access care from remote locations. Medikea is one telemedicine that is building a platform that allows patients to consult with healthcare providers remotely, reducing the need for travel or physical presence of a doctor, therefore improving access to care.

2. Cost-effectiveness. Traditional healthcare delivery systems like hospitals are expensive to set up and maintain, particularly in resource-limited settings. Up until 2022, Tanzania had 12,319 villages and only a total of 7534 dispensaries and 1043 health centres. Hypothetically, in order to cover the gap today, more than 4000 facilities would need to be constructed at a go! This usually also takes so much time for government planning, budgetary planning and implementation.

Digital health technologies, on the other hand, can be implemented at a fraction of the cost and can be scaled up quickly to reach more people. This makes them a cost-effective solution for LMICs that struggle to fund traditional healthcare infrastructure.

3. An enhanced quality of care. By providing everyone with access to efficient digital tools and resources, they are empowered to follow up on their health through continuous monitoring of their vital signs like blood glucose. Subsequently, health providers are less burdened by manual admin work, which in turn improves the quality of care they provide. AI-powered Electronic health records (EHRs) can help healthcare providers keep accurate and up-to-date patient records, improving the quality of care and reducing the risk of medical errors.

Conclusion

Despite facing various health challenges arising from insufficient healthcare infrastructure, limited numbers of trained healthcare workers, developing countries have immense potential for innovation in healthcare.

A widespread growing access to mobile phones and relatively open regulatory environments and fewer entrenched deep system to overcome, LMICs can swiftly adopt innovative solutions and "leapfrog" into universal health coverage by adopting newer solution faster.

To be able to leapfrog healthcare access, digital health MUST be considered an essential part of the healthcare system just as medical equipment or medicines.