A review of ICT systems for HIV/AIDS and anti-retroviral treatment management in South Africa

Abstract

Telemedicine and e-health systems have been proposed as a support tool, to monitor and evaluate HIV/AIDS management strategies. The aim of the present study was to provide an overview of telemedicine and e-health systems for HIV/AIDS in South Africa as a basis for developing an e-health toolkit for anti-retroviral treatment (ART). An initial literature review and a subsequent interactive networking approach were chosen to identify telemedicine and e-health systems, projects and services for HIV/AIDS and ART facilities in low-resource settings and under-served areas. The literature review produced little useful information. In contrast, the face-to-face interviews and the focus group discussions provided useful information about projects and systems which had not been published. The meetings involved 1 - 5 people per session, about 30 people in total. The review showed that there were some plans for telemedicine and e-health implementation in South Africa. However, there was no all-inclusive ICT-based system in place for AIDS treatment there. With the exception of the major health information systems and electronic patient record systems, none of the telemedicine and e-health systems identified in the review were ready to be deployed across the country as a whole.