Tanzanian Health Network Launches Health Information Videos
Mar 19 2009, Tanzania [TZ], Health
- Source:
- []
- Country:
- Tanzania [TZ]
- Sector:
- Health
AfyaMtandao, an IICD-supported ICT for health network that unites health professionals in Tanzania, launched two educational videos this month. The videos are about telemedicine – online advice provided by specialist doctors - and a health management information system (HMIS) that is being used in hospitals in Mwanza.
These videos are also featured on YouTube and google video and are narrated in Swahili to ensure that all Tanzanians can understand them. Both have been subtitled in English for non-speakers of Swahili.
AfyaMtandao and other health projects will use the videos to raise awareness in the health sector about the opportunities of using ICT in hospitals to ensure that more patients benefit from them in the near future. AfyaMtandao is also planning to show the videos on national television.
Telemedicine
The video about telemedicine demonstrates how the online platform iPath connects doctors in remote areas to specialists in larger referral hospitals in Tanzania and abroad to get advice on complex medical cases. Doctors from local hospitals, as well as specialists, give examples of how telemedicine has helped to save the lives of people with serious health problems such as complicated skin diseases, heart defects and bone problems.
District Health Management Information System
The video about the District Health Management Information System (DHMIS) shows how hospital computerisation is improving the health services provided by several hospitals in Mwanza. By using the DHMIS software, hospitals can easily collect, store and analyse data on patient registration, billing, laboratory work, pharmaceutical matters, stock-taking, x-rays and ward management.
AfyaMtandao makes use of the Media Unit of the Christian Social Services Commission (CSSC), which hosts the network, to produce the videos. The Media Unit has already produced several educational videos on health issues. For example, it has made a highly successful video about the Kangaroo Method, explaining how premature babies can be put on the chest of their mother in cases where no incubator is available.