Adequate investment needed in telemedicine - Prof Boachie-Adjei

Professor Oheneba Boachie-Adjei, an Orthopaedic Surgeon and Founder of Foundation of Orthopedics and Complex Spine (FOCOS) has called for adequate investment into telemedicine to drive the delivery of quality healthcare service in the country.

He said telemedicine was convenient mostly at areas where there were no resident physicians and said some district hospitals needed those services to offer quality healthcare services to clients.

Prof. Boachie-Adjie said this on the second day of the third Virtual Accra Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) Investment Fair in Accra on the theme: “Regaining Momentum in SDGs Implementation during and post COVID-19.”

Speaking on the topic; “Telehealth and Telemedicine” he said, were to address patients’ appointment and diagnosis to be sent to the physician to work on, adding, “Internet is very important to drive telemedicine,” he added.

Prof. Boachie-Adjei described government’s promise to construct 88 District Hospitals as ambitious and needed to be done with the training of nurses and physicians to man the hospitals.

The Orthopaedic Surgeon said invariably, telemedicine could play important roles in that regard before the physical structures were built.

Dr Tony Boret, Consultant Obstetrician Gynaecologist at the West Herts University Hospitals NHS Trust, said if the structure of telemedicine was properly instituted, it could offer great opportunities to investors and address critical health concerns.

He said what was needed was strategic partnerships to draw up proper approaches to continue to develop the area and commended Ghana for halving the mortality rates over the year using traditional approaches.

In 2018, the Ministry of Finance in collaboration with Ghana Investment Promotions Centre and the SDGs Advisory Unit, launched the annual SDGs Investment Fair to encourage private financing of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The fair aims at facilitating collaborations between investors and sustainable public and private sector project/businesses.

The 2020 Virtual Accra SDGs Investment Fair is to provide a platform to explore new opportunities within the new normal, identify innovative ways to access financial resources during the COVID-19 pandemic and recovery, share experiences relating to individual and corporate adaptability in the wake of COVID-19 and rebuilding momentum for the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals.

The Accra SDGs Investment Fair brought together high-level government officials, community facilitators, investors, civil society organisations, entrepreneurs, knowledge institutions and other stakeholders to help develop a sustainable network for post-COVID-19 strategies to support government’s vision of a Ghana Beyond Aid.

Topics under discussion include; “The Path from Response to Recovery and Resilience, Socio-economic impact of COVID-19 on the SDGs, A post-COVID-19 vision of sustainable enterprises, Financing for Development and the New Normal: Innovations in Education.

The rest are; Telehealth & Telemedicine, a private sector-led COVID-19 Recovery scenario, Transforming business strategies: aligning the digital to the physical world and The Future of Work: Post COVID-19.