Previously submitted to: Interactive Journal of Medical Research (no longer under consideration since Sep 29, 2022)
Date Submitted: Jun 16, 2022
Warning: This is an author submission that is not peer-reviewed or edited. Preprints - unless they show as "accepted" - should not be relied on to guide clinical practice or health-related behavior and should not be reported in news media as established information.
TELEMEDICINE AS A MEANS TO EXPAND ACCESS TO HEALTH SERVICES IN LOW-INCOME COUNTRIES: THE EXAMPLE NIGERIA ABSTRACT Many countries are exploring and using telemedicine to improve their medical services for the sole purpose of achieving maximum adequate health to their citizens. Nigeria is gradually embracing telemedicine to be able to meet up to the medical needs of people. Though there are some limiting factors that need to be approached before it can be generally accepted in the country. Besides doctors, the country is facing a dearth of other health workers and medical facilities. The few that are available are unevenly distributed with most of them concentrated in the urban areas. Consequently, rural communities, where many Nigerians
ABSTRACT
Background:
The healthcare delivery in Nigeria has experienced progressive deterioration as a result of weakened political will on the part of successive governments to effectively solve problems that have been troubling the medical system of the country for so many years. Medical services face alot of challenges and bottlenecks ranging from dearth of trained and qualified personnel, ill-equiped facilities up to low utilisation of modern technology in the delivery of health services. Telemedicine according to WHO, is the delivery of healthcare services by healthcare professionals, using information and communication technologies for the exchange of valid information for diagnosis, treatment and prevention of disease and injuries, all in the interest of advancing the health of individuals and their communities.
Objective:
The goal of this publication was to evaluate how telemedicine could help to expand access to health services in low-income countries using Nigeria has an example.
Methods:
Telemedicine may be as simple as two health professionals discussing a case over the phone, or as complex as using satellite technology and video conferencing equipment to conduct a real-time consultation between medical specialists in two different countries. 1) Store and forward; telemedicine involves acquiring medical data and then transmitting this data to a doctor or medical specialist at a convenient time for assessment offline 2) Remote monitoring; enables medical professionals to monitor a patient remotely using various technological devices 3) Interactive telemedicine services provide real-time interactions between patient and provider, to include phone conversations, online communication and home visits.
Results:
Telemedicine has been shown to reduce the cost of healthcare and increase efficiency through better management of chronic diseases, shared health professional staffing, reduced travel times, and fewer or shorter hospital stays.
Conclusions:
Telemedicine is providing healthcare information and services remotely with the aid of modern technology. Infrastructural development and integration of telemedicine into the existing health service delivery system are some recommendations to improve the adoption of telemedicine in Nigeria.
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