
Maputo, 12 Sep (AIM) – The Mozambican Health Ministry is coordinating with its strategic partners in order to boost telemedicine in the country favoring the migration of information produced on paper to electronic systems.
According to Denise Langa, a researcher from the National Health Institute (INS), speaking on Wednesday, during a training session for journalists on mpox, in Boane district, about 30 kilometres west of Maputo, the initiative will make it possible for all medical information produced in the country to be available in an integrated electronic health system in real time.
“Within the country, we have systems that allow us to capture patient information at health facility level, but we still work with platforms that record patients’ information on paper. It’s not digitized with electronic platforms”, she said.
She explained that the health sector has been working with its partners to ensure that there is a computerization of information which is then transferred to electronic systems.
Currently, she said, the Health Ministry has daily, weekly and other levels of disease monitoring drawn up, taking into account the level of risk or transmission of the diseases.
“We have diseases that have to be reported daily”, she added. “In other words, the information collected on paper has to be typed up and sent within a day, to make sure it’s on the platform used by the Ministry”.
Langa recognises that migration from paper to electronic systems will still take time, but in the meantime “we can’t let go of the role.”
“At the moment, we are in the process of transition. We are not denying the use of paper, we are bringing in the use of paper and electronic systems and this is going to be an ongoing process. I can’t really say how long we are going to need to stop using paper, to use electronic platforms, but we are in this process of transition”, she explained.
(AIM)
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