Workshop On Telemedicine For Africa

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Workshop On Telemedicine For Africa

Category: IT/Internet/E-mail News

Article Date: 03 Feb 2006

A one-day workshop with the aim of better understanding how satellite

telecommunications might be useful for improving and complementing

African healthcare systems was held in Brussels on 27 January 2006.

The workshop addressed not only improvements to existing healthcare

systems but also how to efficiently respond to major health needs in

remote areas of Africa and landlocked countries. Experts presented

concrete examples of telemedicine-via-satellite services in order to

demonstrate the relevance of space technology.

The workshop represents the first step by the European Commission's

Directorate General for Development and ESA's Directorate of European

Union and Industrial Programmes in implementing common initiatives

within the framework of the European Union/African Union

Infrastructure Partnership.

This initiative also takes into account the African Union

Infrastructures and Energy Programme and considers that the African

Union, in the framework of the Developing Telecommunication and ICT

Policy and Infrastructure, has initiated and is supporting and

facilitating a number of projects including:

-- Elaboration of a telecommunications and ICT policy framework for Africa

-- Creation of a pan-African e-network for telemedicine

-- Telecommunications figures prominently in the Africa-EU Partnership

for Infrastructure.

The workshop

Mr Stefano Manservisi, the European Union's Director General of

Development opened the workshop, which was attended by health policy

managers from the African Union, the African e-Commission and African

Regional Economics Communities, who are seen as representatives of

potential users.

Mr Giuseppe Viriglio, ESA's Director of European Union and Industrial

Programmes, presented ESA's satellite telecommunication applications.

He confirmed the Agency's interest in and willingness to continue its

commitment to this common initiative.

Representatives of the African Regional Economics Communities and of

the e-Africa Commission informed the workshop about the dramatic

situation of African healthcare and provided information on the status

of existing telecommunications infrastructures.

The workshop was also attended by satellite telemedicine technology

experts from ESA, the World Health Organisation and European industry,

including Alcatel Alenia Space, Medes, OP 2000, and Telespazio.

Representative from the African Development Bank, the European

Investment Bank and several European Commission Directorates also

participated.

The workshop covered all telemedicine services and activities

available via satellite and demonstrated the relevance of space

technology for improving and complementing African health service

structures.

In his concluding address to the workshop, Mr Manservisi said: " We

need of a complete picture of opportunities for telemedicine via

satellite (and of other e-services as well) in the Sub-Sahara African

regions. "

Mr Manservisi then proposed the setting up a of a task force, composed

of representatives from the African Organisations, ESA's Directorate

of European Union and Industrial Programmes, the European Commission's

Directorate General for Development and the World Health Organisation.

The task force will define a detailed roadmap identifying a suitable

set of actions to be implemented before end of June 2006, including a

cost-benefit study that will be carried out in order to evaluate the

implementation a satellite based pan-African

telemedicine network. European Space Agency

http://www.esa.int/esaTE/SEMITGNZCIE_index_0.html

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