Article,

A review of ICT systems for HIV/AIDS and anti-retroviral treatment management in South Africa

, , and .
Journal of Telemedicine & Telecare, 14 (1): 37-41 (January 2008)M3: Article; Accession Number: 30053644; Sørensen, Tove 1; Email Address: tove.sorensen@telemed.no Rivett, Ulrike 2 Fortuin, Jill 3; Affiliation: 1: Norwegian Centre for Telemedicine, Tromso, Norway 2: Cell-Life, Cape Town, South Africa 3: Medical Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa; Source Info: Jan2008, Vol. 14 Issue 1, p37; Subject Term: TELECOMMUNICATION in medicine; Subject Term: HIV (Viruses); Subject Term: AIDS (Disease); Subject Term: MEDICAL telematics; Subject Term: MEDICINE; Subject Term: INTERVIEWS; Subject Term: TREATMENT; Subject Term: SOUTH Africa; Number of Pages: 5p; Illustrations: 1 chart; Document Type: Article.

Abstract

Telemedicine and e-health systems have been proposed as a support tool, to monitor and evaluate HIV/AIDS management strategies. The aim of the present study was to provide an overview of telemedicine and e-health systems for HIV/AIDS in South Africa as a basis for developing an e-health toolkit for anti-retroviral treatment (ART). An initial literature review and a subsequent interactive networking approach were chosen to identify telemedicine and e-health systems, projects and services for HIV/AIDS and ART facilities in low-resource settings and under-served areas. The literature review produced little useful information. In contrast, the face-to-face interviews and the focus group discussions provided useful information about projects and systems which had not been published. The meetings involved 1 – 5 people per session, about 30 people in total. The review showed that there were some plans for telemedicine and e-health implementation in South Africa. However, there was no all-inclusive ICT-based system in place for AIDS treatment there. With the exception of the major health information systems and electronic patient record systems, none of the telemedicine and e-health systems identified in the review were ready to be deployed across the country as a whole. ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR; Copyright of Journal of Telemedicine & Telecare is the property of Royal Society of Medicine Press Limited and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts)

Tags

Users

  • @critzo

Comments and Reviews