Digital African Health Library

Digital African Health Library

The Digital African Health Library is an integrated, smartphone-based, point-of-care decision support resource that provides evidence-based, locally relevant decision support and health information which has been shown to lead to more informed patient care.  

Challenges to address

Primary care health workers in sub-Saharan Africa largely practice in an information-poor and resource-constrained environment. These clinicians need valid and Africa-relevant answers to the questions prompted from patient care interaction at the point of care. Many lack access to medical libraries, and less have it available directly to them through a mobile device. Integrated search capabilities over several categories of evidence-based resources can lead to a more accurate diagnosis and more focused management plan to assist the 3% of the world’s health care workers take care of the 25% of the world’s disease burden utilising just 1% of the world’s health care resources.

Activities

1. Expand the Library to include more Africa-relevant evidence-based resources for all and to incorporate the Ministry of Health Guidelines for a limited number of countries.  As a comprehensive, primary care-focused resource, these decision support resources cover the full range of diagnosis and management topics including targeted areas of communicable disease, sexual and reproductive health and maternal and child health;
2. Enhance the usability and flexibility of the mobile platform to have the resources needed for each user readily available and incorporate PDF files that are cheaper to sustain, to add journal-based and other resources that have less need for easy search.
3. make resources available, both those free of charge as well as provide country specific payment options for subsidised rates.

Digital African Health Library brings together in one mobile app an integrated set of evidence based Medical healthcare informational resources relevant and optimised for use in Sub-Saharan Africa. A mobile app that consolidates medical information resources that provide clinical decision support at the point–of–care into one digital library on a mobile phone. Medical healthcare text books, Ministry of Health Clinical Guidelines, Medical publications and drug references in once place.