by Theodore A. Korku Mawutor, SciDev.Internet
Rose-Mary Gyening interacting with rural well being staff on methods to use the app. Researchers developed the cellular app to attach Ghana’s rural communities to well being care companies. Credit score: Theodore A. Korku Mawutor
For years, frontline nurses at community-based well being planning companies have been compelled to improvise with restricted assets, no labs, no ultrasound machines, and generally no electrical energy.
When issues arose, sufferers wanted to journey to better-equipped hospitals, typically a number of kilometers away.
“We see cases where pregnant women are transported on bicycles or motorbikes to reach care,” says Emmanuel Ahene, a medical marketing consultant CHPS-community-based well being planning service. “It’s not uncommon.”
The statistics paint a stark image—throughout 4 northern districts solely 6% of services might present fundamental emergency being pregnant care, with simply 3% providing complete companies.
Amongst ladies who died or practically died throughout childbirth, 39% delivered at services unequipped for emergencies.
Now, researchers at Kwame Nkrumah College of Science and Know-how (KNUST) in southern Ghana have developed a cellular utility that would rework this actuality.
Bridging the digital divide
The app, known as the Nationwide Well being Entry Platform, is designed to assist rural communities hook up with life-saving companies shortly and reliably, enhancing referrals and lowering delays in care.
“We wanted to bridge the accessibility gap,” explains Rose-Mary Owusuaa Mensah Gyening, from KNUST, the venture’s lead researcher.
“We focused on features that support basic care, enable real-time referrals, and provide culturally appropriate health information.”
The app permits group well being staff and sufferers to e book hospital appointments, seek the advice of higher-level services, entry well being info in native languages, and obtain distant consultations.
Well being care services can replace service availability and handle referral queues in actual time.
Customers can find the closest clinic or hospital via a map-based interface, view obtainable companies, and provoke digital referrals. Crucially, info is saved domestically on units and routinely syncs when web connectivity returns.
“It works even where network coverage is poor,” Gyening provides.
On the facility stage, directors can replace which companies are operational every day, enabling well being staff in distant areas to make extra knowledgeable referrals.
Daniel Ansong, a pediatrician and public well being specialist on the workforce, illustrates the issue with a standard situation.
“A … compound near Kpando [a town in eastern Ghana] sees a pregnant woman who needs an ultrasound. She’s sent to Kpando, arrives by 9:30 a.m., and is told the ultrasound isn’t working. She goes to Hohoe [a town an hour’s drive from Kpando] and is told services are closed until morning.”
With the app, he says, “the nurse can inform her that Kpando’s ultrasound operates on Wednesdays, Hohoe’s on Thursdays, and refer her appropriately.”
Neighborhood-centered improvement
The venture operates underneath Ghana’s Ministry of Setting, Science, Know-how and Innovation, with KNUST main improvement.
Earlier than constructing the app, the workforce performed intensive consultations with well being workers, hospital managers, and Nationwide Well being Insurance coverage Scheme (NHIS) officers. Area testing was performed throughout all 16 areas of Ghana.
“We didn’t just build an app and deploy it,” Gyening says.
“We spoke to people working in the system—district directors, midwives, and even ambulance staff.”
This strategy resulted in a software designed to handle actual, day-to-day challenges in underserved communities.
Scaling challenges and options
Whereas the app is absolutely useful, nationwide scaling presents important hurdles.
“Not all underserved communities have internet access,” Gyening says.
“We address this by making some functionalities available offline. But to take full advantage of the app’s benefits, internet access is eventually needed.”
The workforce believes sustainability is determined by institutional help.
“KNUST can provide updates and technical support through our teams, but public-private partnerships and policy backing are essential for scale,” Gyening says.
Ansong provides, “If NHIS integrates with the app, patients won’t face double charges. And if the Ghana Health Service mandates participation, we can achieve national coverage.”
Joshua Ofoeda, a senior lecturer and head of IT on the College of Skilled Research, Accra, helps the initiative as “a forward-thinking approach to addressing health needs in underserved communities, especially rural Ghana.”
He suggests the workforce take into account including text-to-speech capabilities to help customers with disabilities.
The researchers imagine the app may gain advantage neighboring nations dealing with comparable well being care challenges.
“West Africa’s health care systems face the same constraints, distance, staff shortages, and weak infrastructure,” Ansong observes. “If it works here, it can work in Burkina Faso or Nigeria too.”
Analysis helps this potential. Research present that throughout the area, ladies usually tend to ship at dwelling, with 44% citing transport challenges or lengthy distances to well being services.
In Nigeria, a 2023 examine discovered rural ladies are greater than twice as probably as city ladies to ship at dwelling after suboptimal antenatal care visits.
Trying ahead
“We are hoping for the day when these applications and technologies are fully accepted by people,” Gyening says.
“The keyword has always been to support caregivers, not replace them.”
The workforce is now making ready stakeholder workshops and interesting with nationwide companies to combine the app into Ghana’s broader well being infrastructure—a important step towards reworking well being care supply in one of many world’s most underserved areas.
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Cellular app goals to bridge Ghana’s rural well being care hole (2025, July 31)
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