Digital Health Innovations in Low Resource Countries

In countries with low per capita income and little funding for health programs, one might expect an absence of support for innovation in digital health. However, it is the fact of limited resources which encourages innovation.  We see innovation in other areas of digital technology, such as, personal finance.  Digital payments are now common in Keyna, with almost half of the country participating. Digital health is supporting agriculture and education. 

 

Digital health innovations in the developing are being incentivized not only by non-governmental organizations (NGOs) but also by industry.  Companies like Merck, Microsoft, Philips and others have set up accelerators and other support for entrepreneurs in digital health. Some success have occurred but sustainability is still a challenge because of lack of ongoing funding and technical advice for startups. The  focus of many initiatives funded by multinationals were on increasing health awareness and medical information.

 

There are many innovations which also extend medical services to remote areas. These include a digital stethoscope enabled by a smart phone, content sent through websites, apps or texting to community health workers, and devices which can be attached to a smart phone which enable a digital microscope or blood testing to analyze disease in the field. The Ebola epidemic also went digital especially when it came to reporting new cases. By avoiding the manual processes around paper reporting, the epidemic could be tracked more accurately and quickly.

 

Digital health innovations are possible in low resource countries but these innovations need more support from governments, NGOs and corporations to get these into the field, into the hands of community health workers and consumers/patients.