Improving public healthcare systems in developing countries using FOSS: The EHAS foundation case

Providing healthcare in rural areas of developing countries is a very challenging task, since they are inhabited by the most vulnerable and most impoverished sectors of the population – those who suffer the most acute diseases. In addition, in these countries a high proportion of the medical expertise is located in urban areas, barring the most needy, those living in rural and isolated areas, from access to quality healthcare. Many initiatives have tried to improve public primary healthcare systems in rural and isolated areas by using information and communication technologies (ICT) to connect rural health centres with urban hospitals to address this issue and foster the development of rural communities (Wootton et al., 2009). The isolation and lack of infrastructure (roads, energy) of these regions make them less economically attractive for telecommunication operators to invest in deploying information and communication networks in these areas. This leaves only two solutions for connecting healthcare facilities: either they make use of satellite connections, or they build the networks themselves.

Related Subject(s): Environment and Climate Change