2003

Telemedicine in Afghanistan

Background

Afghanistan has been a less developed country, but during the period from 1950 to the 1970s it managed to build up an infrastructure with international assistance, and several good educational institutions were established. During 23 years of war and political instability, most of the infrastructure and social capital has been destroyed.

The economy has collapsed, there has been an enormous brain drain, and there is a critical shortage of health care workers at every level. The life expectancy at birth is 41 years, 25% of children die before they are five and the maternal mortality is the highest in the world (1700 mothers die per 100,000 live births). Of all deliveries, 99% take place at home, only 9% being attended by trained personnel.

Traditions and attitudes in the society result in a high degree of gender segregation, and many women cannot be examined or treated by male doctors. The literacy rate among women is below 15%, and for several years they have had no access to higher education. Afghanistan now has a transitional government that wants to rebuild and develop the country. Communication, education and health have high priority.

Project description

The project should contribute to improved health and increased status for women in a country that has the highest maternal mortality in the world, a very low female literacy rate, and traditions that prevent women from seeking male doctors.

The objective is to establish a base for a education concept which aims to increase the number of female health care personnel and improve knowledge amongst Afghan women within reproductive health. The target group is Afghan women.

The Norwegian Centre for Telemedicine wants to investigate whether it is feasible to use telemedicine in the education of health personnel in Afghanistan. If so, we want to develop a project in Afghanistan, and if the results are good, this experience can be further developed and may be of benefit to other organizations (such as WHO) working in other least-developed countries.

The project should contribute to improved health and higher status for Afghan women, and we would preferably like to contribute to the education of female health personnel. Deliverables from the prestudy were reports and an application for two PhD scholarships.

Six months was allocated for a feasibility study and project planning which included a three-weeks "fact-finding mission" in Afghanistan.

Financing

Internal NST funds. Application for PhD scholarships sent to the Norwegian Research Council.

Below is the Norwegian description of the prestudy and the English prestudy report on information and communication technology (ICT) in Afghanistan.

Project period

2003 - 2004

Contact person at NST

Siri Uldal

Telemedisin i Afghanistan ICT Afghanistan

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