Digital Pulse - Ch 3 - Sec 1 - Communications for Better Health (CBH) Programme

Development Issues: Health

Programme Summary

The " target="_blank">Health Foundation of Ghana (HFG) is an issue-oriented, not for profit, non-governmental organisation committed to assisting Ghanaians to achieve better health through the design and implementation of creative solutions and interventions to local health problems using community based resources. HFG developed out of the Dreyfus Health Foundation (DHF)-Ghana office. HFG now works in partnership with DHF, local and external partners to assist communities to undertake projects aimed at raising health consciousness of residents. The Foundation believes that good health is essential for socio-economic development and is committed to contributing to improving the health status of the country. In fact health in its broadest sense is perhaps the most important human resources the absence of which diminishes the individual's quality of life and reduces the capacity to partake in national development. The Health Foundation's efforts are focused on approaches that stress individual and group responsibility, ideas and action, and the optimal use of currently available resources.

Summary of ICT Initiatives

Working in conjunction with the Dreyfus Health Foundation (DHF) the HFG has implemented a Communications for Better Health (CBH) programme. CBH programmes are designed to improve accessibility to timely health information.

CBH® is initiated within a hospital setting, university, or medical library. The site is often determined through contacts with a country's Ministry of Health and/or local NGOs. An assessment of the site's computer technology usually leads to provision, by DHF, of some computer hardware and software, such as CD-ROM technology and databases such as MEDLINE, PASCAL, and LILACS. Although CBH® uses modern information technology, such as microprocessors and CD-ROM storage and retrieval capability to deliver relevant health information to health professionals, it is much more than technology.

Ghana was the site of the pilot CBH project and developed into two streams, the first is the medical publication, the Ghana Health Digest. The health digest provides medical practitioners, administrators, and government policy makers and parliamentarians with timely health news and information. The selection of abstracts (from MEDLINE, for example) takes into consideration local health conditions, and is adapted accordingly. The digest also contains relevant articles written by local health specialists (such as "A Guide to Malaria Prevention and Control"), summaries of findings from community health projects, personal health experiences, interviews, FAQs, questionnaires and answers and quizzes. 2500 copies of the digest are distributed quarterly to health professionals across the country (doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and medical students) via hospitals, clinics, medical libraries, and the District Health Management Teams of the Ministry of Health. Through an order form in the digest, users may request full-text articles of abstracts or database searches on specific topics of health and medical interest.

The digest gains mass exposure by the bi-weekly reading of highlights from the digest on the National Morning Breakfast Show on Ghana Television (GTV) and the Daily Graphic Newspaper has featured several articles for their weekly health column. The Health Foundation of Ghana is also in negotiation with Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (radio) to broadcast information from the digest.

In the second stream, local databases are created by indigenous health professionals and other interested parties, who, working together, select information from international resources and from in-country or regional colleagues. Solutions to common local health problems are also gleaned from local health professionals. The database of local health information is kept in each country's information centre (head office) in paper format (and often in electronic format, also). People call and visit the centres for local and international medical information.

A national version of this database, the African Index Medicus (AIM), is being developed. AIM provides an index of African health literature and information sources using CDS-ISIS software. AIM identifies bibliographic sources and includes databases on information experts and sources of research in health-related areas of African countries.

The HFG's expanding AIDS/HIV prevention project will also gain from its exposure and linkages to the health digest. An educational programme, the Journey of Hope kit, which visually illustrates the nature, causes, and impact of the HIV/AIDS virus, has been recently developed. Films on HIV/AIDS are shown to the general public twice a month on Friday evenings with the support of the Ghana Information Service. The project implementers have intensified their effort by undertaking a house-to-house education campaign to achieve the required impact. Increased condom sales have been reported in the community drugstores.

Observations

• There is a host of valuable, current medical information on the Internet, but the majority of the developing world does not have access to it and, equally importantly, does not know how to use it to optimal advantage.
• All levels of technology, even no technology, can be used to target relevant health information to the widest possible audience. These include the Internet, satellite transmission, radio, traditional print digests and newsletters, and workshops and formal and informal meetings.
• The majority of health information needs to be adapted for local use.

Partners: DHF, HFG, Association for Health Information and Libraries in Africa (AHILA) and the World Health Organization (WHO).

Source:DHF Site; DHF's Connections Magazine (Jan-Mar 2003); Chapter 2 ("Insights from Existing Initiatives") of "Unlocking economic opportunity in the south through local content: A proposal from the G8 Dotforce" by Peter Armstrong et al. (Insight by Lynda Arthur); Health Foundation Ghana website; AHILA.

For More Information, Contact: Lynda Arthur at hfghana@idng.com