COVID-19 and Teleneurology in Sub-Saharan Africa: Leveraging the Current Exigency.

Philip Babatunde Adebayo,Funmilola Tolulope Taiwo,Olusegun John Oluwole

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2020.574505

Philip Babatunde Adebayo, Funmilola Tolulope Taiwo + Show 1 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2020.574505

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Abstract

Africa has over 1.3 billion inhabitants, with over 60% of this population residing in rural areas that have poor access to medical experts. Despite having a ridiculously huge, underserved population, very few African countries currently have any form of sustained and organized telemedicine practice, and even fewer have dedicated tele-neurology services. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has proved to be one of the most significant disruptors of vital sectors of human endeavor in modern times. In the healthcare sector, there is an increasing advocacy to deliver non-urgent care via telemedicine. This paper examined the current state of tele-neurology practice and infrastructural preparedness in sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, there is over 70% mobile phone penetration in most of the countries and virtually all of them have mobile internet services of different technologies and generations. Although the needed infrastructure is increasingly available, it should be improved upon. We have proposed the access, costs, ethics, and support (ACES) model as a bespoke, holistic strategy for the successful implementation and advancement of tele-neurology in sub-Saharan Africa.

Highlights

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus2 (SARS-COV-2), broke out in the Hubei province of China in December 2019 and later became a pandemic that has afflicted over 200 countries of the world [1]
The extreme vulnerability to COVID-19 of the elderly population and those with underlying chronic medical conditions, which typify a large proportion of our neurology patients, created additional disincentives and barriers to seeking healthcare by this category of patients even when there were obvious and urgent indications for such
We acknowledge that political will, training, education, advocacy, and the continued level of interest in telehealth beyond COVID-19 by the different national health regulatory authorities, will play an essential role in determining whether telehealth and tele-neurology will assume a different pedestal in the subcontinent

Summary

INTRODUCTION

Coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome-coronavirus (SARS-COV-2), broke out in the Hubei province of China in December 2019 and later became a pandemic that has afflicted over 200 countries of the world [1]. The initiative aims to nurture local neurology leaders by using new telecommunication technologies to improve their knowledge and management skills while ensuring sustainability by integrating teleneurology into daily clinical practice within an existing health system using the hub and spoke model [31] One of this initiative’s successes is the regular hosting of the African Movement Disorders Grand Round, a multicentre webinar series to which many African neurologists may freely connect for educational purposes [32]. Broadband internet is still not universally available in all countries in Africa, the fair availability of modest internet technology coupled with decent mobile penetration provides the opportunity to improve telehealth and tele-neurology practice. We acknowledge that political will, training, education, advocacy, and the continued level of interest in telehealth beyond COVID-19 by the different national health regulatory authorities, will play an essential role in determining whether telehealth and tele-neurology will assume a different pedestal in the subcontinent

ACES STRATEGIC FOCUS

Ethics Issues

Findings

CONCLUSION