The Minister of Health and Child Care, Doctor Obadiah Moyo has challenged health practitioners to embrace eHealth since the world is swiftly moving in towards that direction in terms of technological advancements.
Dr Moyo said this while addressing people who had gathered to witness the official opening of the Zimbabwe Medical Association (ZIMA) in the capital yesterday.
“Ehealth is the future of health provisions and Zimbabwe should not be left behind,” said Dr Moyo.
EHealth is a broad term that refers to the use of information and communications technologies in healthcare. EHealth covers a lot of territory, which is why digital health industry experts often contest exactly what the term means, it’s also frequently used as a synonym for Health IT.
The Minister also said that the ministry is working hard to finalize the Medical Aid Societies Regulations Bill so that the funding aspects of the health provisions are properly regulated for optimum efficiencies.
“We want a situation whereby after a patient has just finished seeing a surgeon, a payment will reflect immediately. If other countries can do it ,so can we,” added Dr Moyo.
A number of ICT private partners are spreading their wings in the eHealth sector to digitalise health like the rest of the globe and these include New Health 263, Zimbabwe Clinical Resources Mobile App, Maisha Medik to name but a few.
One of the Heads of Maisha Health at Cassava Smartech yesterday after launching the Maisha Medik application at the same symposium, Dr Ralph Nyakabau, explained how the application works and emphasizing that data will be secured to avoid people’s health records getting in the wrong hands.
“Data securing is one of the key things we took into considerations hence everyone needs a unique password and a pin number to log into the system,” said Dr Nyakabau.
“Technology has made things easier to the extend that you can now teleconference your doctor if you miss a physical appointment. Maisha Medik is giving you all that,” added Dr Nyakabau.
Chief Director in the Ministry of Health and Child Care, Robert Mudyiradima, who was standing in for Minister Moyo hailed Maisha Medik as a huge step towards strengthening primary health care for Zimbabweans.
“This is a major response to SDG goal three which emphasizes on providing good health and well being in order to achieve Universal Health Coverage,” said Mudyiradima.
