Maria David
NAMIBIAN patients’ medical records are currently largely paper-based, making verification processes lengthy and cumbersome.
The Ministry of Health and Social Service officially launched the national e-Health strategy 2021-2025 in Windhoek on Friday to overcome these obstacles.
“The implementation of the eHealth strategy is a transformation initiative that will not merely change the existing manual medical records system to an electronic one, but also seeks to change the way health-related information is collected, shared, communicated, and analyzed to improve decision-making and patient care,” Minister of Health Dr Kalumbi Shangula said.
He said it will also allow healthcare workers to capture, access, and share patient information promptly.
“The eHealth strategy will make it possible for us to do many things. We will apply eHealth solutions to consult and manage patients remotely,” he said.
Shangula stated that the system will also help with managing patient records and make them available wherever required for convenience of the patients.
“The provision of quality health and social welfare is underpinned by timely, accessible and accurate data to inform decision making for strategic interventions,” he said.
The minister noted that the eHealth system is in line with other global aspirations and priorities.
This includes the 2018 World Health Assembly (WHA) Resolution that promotes digital health or health digitization to improve health and well-being for people of all ages everywhere, towards achieving the Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs).
World Health Organization (WHO) representative Charles Sagoe-Moses commended the Ministry for launching this important document that will form the basis for eHealth across the country.
Sagoe-Moses said with this strategy the government is making a paradigm shift to enhance health outcomes by improving medical diagnosis, data-based treatment decisions, digital therapeutics, clinical trials, self-management of care and person-centred care, as well as creating more evidence-based knowledge, skills and competence for professionals to support health care through digital transformation.
“The WHO continues to work closely with the government of Namibia through the Ministry of Health to ensure the efficient and effective implementation of the eHealth system in the public health sector,” said Sagoe-Moses.
