Addis Ababa, 23 October 2013 -- An international three-day workshop on developing national eHealth strategies kicked off yesterday in Addis Ababa. Jointly organized by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) and the World Health Organization (WHO), the workshop aims to facilitate the development of comprehensive eHealth strategies using the National eHealth Strategy Toolkit developed by WHO and ITU.

The workshop was opened by Dr Pierre M’Pele-Kilebou, WHO Representative to Ethiopia, and Mr Andrew Rugege, ITU Regional Director for Africa, who both acknowledged the great progress made on the African continent particularly on using mobile technology to expand the reach of health information and services and seized the opportunity to officially present the jointly developed National eHealth Strategy Toolkit.

“Information and Communication Technology can make a significant contribution to addressing health challenges in Africa”, said Dr M’Pele-Kilebou, highlighting the ENAT Messenger System used in the Tigray region as an example of good practice in monitoring maternal and child health. Mr Andrew Rugege, ITU Regional Director for Africa further emphasized that “in order to properly manage the rapid growth of ICT utilization in the health sector, a comprehensive national eHealth strategy is critical”.

However, in many countries, eHealth programmes are implemented in a fragmented manner due to lack of national strategy. The workshop intends to provide its participants from Ethiopia, Liberia, Malawi, Sierra Leone, Uganda and Zimbabwe with the relevant tools to address this issue. The Toolkit is a comprehensive and practical guide that all governments can adapt for their specific country contexts. In Ethiopia the development of a national eHealth strategy has already begun, but the workshop will strengthen the on-going process and its outcomes.

 01 Regional Workshop On Developing National EHealth Strategies Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 22-24 October 2013 02 Dr Pierre MPele-Kilebou, WR Ethiopia, And Mr Andrew Rugege, ITU Regional Director For Africa, Present The National EHealth Strategy Toolkit, Which Has Been Jointly Developed By The Two Organizations
_________________________________________________________________

For more information, please contact:

Gebrekidan Mesfin, WHO, Getachew.Sahlu [at] itu.int Tel: +251-912 500 769 or

Viivi Erkkilä, WHO Ethiopia erkkilav [at] et.afro.who.int Tel: +251-936 811 947