By Joseph Kabia
The technology experts rate Nairobi, Kenya’s capital city, as a major technology hub that is competing with other renowned hubs, earning the nickname, the Silicon savannah.
But Mr. Wojtek Sierocki, a telemedicine technology guru from Poland and the Executive Director, eMedica company based in Nairobi, sums up Kenya as the Promised Land of telemedicine. “Kenya is the Promised Land of telemedicine. Most of the medical services are highly concentrated in Nairobi. Those in need of healthcare services are travelling long distances and pay a lot to access medical services.
The need of a telemedicine technology infrastructure cannot be over- emphasized,” said Mr. Wojtek as he unveiled a basket of new telemedicine technology from Poland. “Telemedicine is an already well-known initiative that is changing the face of medicine. It is offered by integrating medical devices, records and video conferencing facilities, mobile phones or laptop computers, providing experts with real-time information on patient’s conditions,” said Mr. Wojtek.
“Diagnosis can be done remotely and can help in the de-concentration of expertise from the urban centers to the village level in the most remote areas of the country in the world,” he says. He says that the delivery of health care to the people in the modern age does not require any travel. Patients are supposed to access quality health care service at their own locality.
Mr. Wojtek says that his company is committed in the provision of accurate tools and empowers the local care providers with a short training that does not exceed fifteen minutes. The telemedicine expert added that the technology is bound to bridge the gap in the maternal and child healthcare currently being experienced in Kenya.
“With the innovative systems like the Pregnabit CTG telemedicine system, a breakthrough has been made in the continuous monitoring of the heart rate of the fetus,” says Mr. Wojtek. “Nothing can replace the experience and knowledge of professional medical staff. But Pregnabit is a telemedical device designed to support the work of doctors and midwives.
It enables CTG monitoring of pregnant women anywhere at any time, especially when an extra visit to the doctor’s office is not possible or necessary,” he says. “The device combines the well-known and proven features of professional stationary CTG device, which is used in hospitals worldwide, with the features of modern mobile devices,” he says.
The invention of the device and its availability in Kenya brings to an end the old era of the funnel commonly used by nurses and midwives in both public and private hospitals in ascertaining the health of the fetus.
