Mobile Health Around The Globe: Ghana - Changing The Very Essence Of Healthcare

Ghana faces some serious challenges when it comes to healthcare delivery. As the Austrian Red Cross points out, although the country has a population of nearly 23.5 million people, there are only 1,439 health care facilities, unevenly distributed across the country.

Additionally, roads are difficult to traverse, and transportation, particularly to rural areas scarce. Add to the above difficulties a nursing shortage--more nurses leave than graduate each year. In short it is often lack of access to medical care, rather than poor medical care itself, that impedes Ghana's progress.

Striking, mobile access is gaining ground rapidly. Projections are that 82% of Africans will have mobile access by 2014. It is just such access--and what it can accomplish--that is changing the face of healthcare in Ghana. Unlike the individual monitoring. tracking, and personal interactions with clinicians via applications in developed countries, mobile health in Africa  focuses on "improving the efficiency of healthcare workforce and systems."