Urgent and efficient medical attention is in high demand in Nigeria and Telemedicine has been tipped as holding promise to alleviate primary health care problems in Africa’s most popular nation.
In a recent interview, Adeyinka Adeniran, chief executive officer (CEO) Medflit, a leading health information technology platform proffers solutions to healthcare problems.
He noted that through telemedicine, online pharmacy, hospital booking and home health services can increase access to care and bridge the gaps created by limited numbers of healthcare professionals to patients.
According to Adeniran, telemedicine can improve access to quality primary healthcare to Nigerians in the comfort of their homes.
“Patients can reach healthcare professionals for evaluation, diagnosis and treatment of less critical conditions at a distance which in turn reduces demand on primary health facilities,” he said.
He further said that primary healthcare services including medical counselling, review of screenings and laboratory results, medication management and provision of on-going care can all be accessed via telemedicine.
“Telemedicine will enable people to access healthcare readily at an affordable rate lesser than the cost of hospital visits. In addition, telemedicine provides an added advantage in its ability to cater to the needs of patients anywhere and at any given time.”
“With the use of telemedicine, patients do not need to travel a long distance to receive medical care; the prompt delivery of healthcare services would ultimately save lives,” he said.
Meanwhile, primary healthcare is essential healthcare designed to make universal health care accessible to all individuals and families in a community.
The aim of primary healthcare is to take care of less critical medical issues in the attainment of better health services for all. Effective delivery of healthcare services at all levels, however, requires the availability of adequate infrastructure, diagnostic medical equipment, drugs and well-trained medical personnel.
Unfortunately, Nigeria cannot fully boast of these requirements essential for quality healthcare delivery.
According to experts, telemedicine, the remote diagnosis and treatment of patients by means of telecommunications technology holds the promise to alleviate primary health care problems in the country.
On Medflit’s Impact so far, Adeniran stated “we have successfully provided people with connections to physicians for consultations, quality home service with unlimited video and voice calls, doctor’s prescription with no waiting lines, flexible bookings and access to a variety of hospitals.”
“Our vision is to build a platform where people can access quality healthcare at minimal cost and we will continue to innovate to fulfil this vision. We are also looking forward to starting a TV programme soon to educate Nigerians on health-related topics while debunking myths and fake information about health. Our beliefs, culture, and access to information can shape how we think about our health and having the wrong information can be extremely harmful.”
In line with its vision to improve access to quality healthcare at an affordable rate, the telemedicine platform has taken up a mandate to educate Nigerians on prevalent disease conditions, prevention and early detection. Its recently introduced array of educational health materials and resources will equip users with knowledge on prevention and management of diseases.
ANTHONIA OBOKOH
