ICT SEMINAR HELD FOR STATEHOLDERS IN HEALTH (PAGE 30)

THE Ghana Information Network for Knowledge Sharing (GINKS), a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has held an Information, Communication and Technology (ICT) seminar on health for stakeholders in the Tamale metropolis, with a call for the streamlining of ICT in health training institutions and facilities in the country.
According to Mr Ken Gbeve of the Ghana Health Service in Tamale, when such an initiative was effectively implemented, it would help health professionals, including doctors to learn about the latest technological developments in the sector and also facilitate their work to improve output.
He said it could also be used to detect diseases early enough, and that the programme would be realised through networking of ICT delivery facilities at health centres, which would be constantly upgraded and health professionals sensitised to the use of the facilities.
Topics discussed were “Ghana ICT for Development on the Health Sector: State of Implementation, Challenges and the way Forward.
The rest were how ICTs were used by Ghanaian health workers and the effective use of ICT in the health sector-best practices.
The country came out with a policy on the use of ICT for accelerated development five years ago, which contained a chapter on ICT in health.
The participants, therefore, examined the place and role of ICT in medical institutions and health facilities.
Mr Gbeve said the challenges inhibiting the implementation of the programme included inadequate resources and funding, a lack of harmonisation and commitment by leadership and non-existing ICT infrastructure at rural communities.
The Chief Executive Officer of the Tamale Teaching Hospital, Dr Ken Sagoe, said the hospital had received 32 computers, and that some would be installed at the various consulting rooms.
According to him, they would be networked and hooked on to the Internet to facilitate health care at the hospital.
The Northern Regional Co-ordinator of GINKS, Mr Stephen Agbenyo, explained that the organisation was established in 2003, out of a collaboration with the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD) and its local partners, with the objective of streamlining all ICT projects, initiatives and programmes in the country.
He said health, agriculture, research, gender and education were some of the areas they were developing through the use of the ICT.
‘‘We also strengthen and facilitate strategic alliances among network members to engender the development of information and knowledge-based issues,’’ the co-ordinator further indicated.