African telemedicine projects proposed

GABORONE, Botswana, March 21 (UPI) -- A European telemedicine task force has proposed using satellite technology to deliver health information and communication services to sub-Saharan Africa.

Three specific activities were proposed by the task force that met recently in Botswana: increasing that area's health workforce, increasing the number of available clinical services and a third aimed at strengthening the intelligence gathering capacity of the area's health systems.

The third meeting of the Telemedicine Task Force, which includes various African organizations, the World Health Organization, the European Commission and the European Space Agency, was in Botswana earlier this month.

One of the task force's key goals is to develop a complete picture of telemedicine opportunities in the sub-Saharan region and to formulate recommendations for future action.

Sub-Saharan Africa, with 47 nations and 750 million inhabitants, has one with the highest rates of communicable diseases, such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. The average life expectancy at birth in sub-Saharan Africa was 46 in 2004.

The region faces a serious health workforce crisis due to the migration of physicians and nurses to more developed countries as well as the death of skilled personnel from disease.