Disseminating health information in developing countries: the role of the Internet
Click below to download PDF document
You will require Acrobat Reader to view file
Click here for PDF document
Despite the internet being hailed as one of the potential solutions to improving the health of populations in developing countries, the current digital divide is far more dramatic than any other inequity in health or income, according to a paper in this week's BMJ.
There are currently more internet hosts in New York than in the entire African continent; more hosts in Finland than in Latin America and the Caribbean; and in India, many villages still lack a working telephone, reports Tessa Tan-Torres Edejer of the World Health Organisation. She argues that, although there have been some pioneering efforts to increase access to health information in developing countries, the ratio of people who have access to the internet to those who do not is currently 1:5000 in Africa, compared to 1:6 in the United States or Europe.
Efforts are being made to bring technologies to developing countries, says the author. Centres that provide access to on-line health information in remote areas are being established, and credible organisations are developing valuable databases. Issues such as inconsistency of health information and limited access to research from developing countries are also being addressed.
The greatest challenge is getting people to use and interact with the technology, says the author. Once this is achieved, she concludes: " the internet can provide a mechanism for users to become active partners in the dissemination of information and in policymaking."
Contact:
Tessa Tan-Torres Edejer, Global Programme on Evidence for Health Policy, World Health Organisation, Geneva, Switzerland
Tel: (via Melia Bali Hotel) 62-361-771-510 - ask to be connected to the Bali Room
Email: tantorrest@who.ch