E-HEALTH should become as much of a priority as e-governance. In healthcare systems all around the world, the switch over to digital pathway has come in the wake of recognising e-health as an imperative establishment at the regional and national levels.

In a developing country like Pakistan, the adaptation to health digitisation has not been easy. For a country that faces challenges at the grassroots level such as inadequate medical facilities, poor infrastructure, scarcity of medical professionals, lack of awareness and expensive health services, e-health looks like a far-fetched solution to Pakistan’s healthcare problems.

Nevertheless, a plan to embrace digital health could be worked, if the magnitude of its implementation is well understood. Studies have shown that health digitisation in the developed world has helped minimise inefficiencies in the healthcare delivery system and has reduced chances of under-diagnosis — an error that is a humdrum in our routine practice.

By making a switch over from tedious paperwork to electronic data, faster access and confidentiality of medical data can be established, improving the overall quality of the health system.

It is time the government recognised that a piecemeal approach to technology is the need of the hour.

Dr Kashifa Qureshi
Jamshoro

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2020