Digital Pulse - Ch 2 - Sec 3 - Health, HIV/AIDS and ICT: A Needs Assessment

Summary

This information for this report was derived from a survey that was intended to “get a sense of what a health focused audience felt were the issues in relation to the promotion of ICT.” The initiative for this survey stemmed from Action Point 7 of the G8's Digital Opportunity Task Force (DOT Force). Surveys were distributed by email and resulted in 37 (of 120) responses, the majority of which came from African organizations.

The most important finding was that respondents believed in the necessity of focusing on the information needs of, and the communication channels amongst individuals before considering the supporting technology. Human processes were stressed as more important, and ICTs initiatives should support those processes.

Key Points (Derived from survey respondents)

Concerns Associated with ICT

• The ethical issues of ICT expenditures as opposed to direct medical interventions.
• That an “industry driven technology approach” rather than a real needs approach will drive ICT initiatives.
• That ICT applications must remain practical, culturally appropriate and recognize and reflect local capacity.
• That the cost of acquisition, training and maintenance cannot be borne by poor countries.

Health, HIV/AIDS and ICT: General Conclusions

• Information and communication channels must be the focal point, not the technology itself.
• Local context and language are essential to any communication initiatives.
• Local ownership and capacity are key to the acceptance and sustainability of ICT projects.
• All ICT projects should contribute to the strengthening of the overall health system.
• Collaboration between all stakeholders is essential if ICT projects are to create “synergies” between other projects, markets mechanisms, and the community.
• Research is still required to identify the information needs of specific target groups.

HIV/AIDS and ICT: Specific Conclusions

• Creation and distribution of preventative information is the most important component of any HIV/AIDS strategy, and community level application of ICTs to support these strategies is proving effective. However, this approach is reliant on more common broadcast media (radio) and readily accessible technologies (e.g. CD-ROMs).
• The highest benefits of ICTs are realized by improving access to information and education and communication tools for rural and community health care workers.
• All types of ICTs can contribute to the enhancement of evidence-based activities such as epidemiology and surveillance, which are critical components of AIDS management strategies.

Elements in Promoting ICTs

• Human information needs must drive the solutions, ICTs have a role only in supporting and delivering on these needs.
• The value of ICTs in supporting an initiative's objectives must be demonstrable.
• Building strong collaboration and dialogue between stakeholders is a necessity.
• Understanding how ICTs affect work processes is essential to the impact management.

The report concludes that ICTs will eventually have a role to play in the development of better health care services and in addressing target diseases. In support of that development it presents the following recommendations.

• HIV/AIDS initiatives to promote and capitalize on ICTs should focus on:
• The dissemination of preventative public health information using common ICT.
• Application of ICT to improve health care worker access to information.
• Enhancing population health and research capacity.
• Projects should build onto existing systems and infrastructure.
• Women should be more involved in the full project life cycle.
• Projects should have strong risk-management strategies and hand-over planning.
• More research should be done to precisely define the information needs of target groups.

Source: DS Bateson Consulting “Health, HIV/AIDS and Information and Communication Technologies: A Needs Assessment” Summary of Report (May, 2002).