Remarks by Acting USAID Mission Director Beth Hogan at the Information Technology Interventions in Health Workshop

May 09, 2007

Good Morning Everyone! I am delighted to be here today. This meeting is very timely as we now have about two years of experience with the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM). The NRHM has created a renewed focus on restructuring the public health sector and looking at innovations in health reforms. The openness we see to entertain new ideas and approaches to improve the health of India’s citizens under the NRHM is unprecedented.

There is commitment at the highest level to explore new ways of doing business to accelerate the impact on public health and to address the needs of vulnerable population groups. Many new approaches to this sector are being considered and now is the time for us to examine the benefits of using information technology tools in healthcare and administration.

I would like to thank our hosts, Microsoft, for organizing today’s workshop. I would add here that USAID is not endorsing a particular company or product at today’s event. Rather, we believe that there is a role for information technology in general in the health sector. And, specifically, there is room for an entire range of information technology companies and their products in health sector innovation.

We are well aware of the fact that India has made substantial gains in its health status in the last six decades. Despite significant reductions in mortality and fertility, there are still a number of challenges. Approximately 1.9 million children die before their fifth birth day every year. Nearly one in hundred women die because of pregnancy and child related complications. Approximately 30 million couples have an unmet need for contraception. And, finally, approximately half of all Indian children are malnourished.

The recently concluded Third National Family Health Survey (NFHS3) that USAID undertook in partnership with the Government of India and other development partners including DFID, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, UNFPA and UNICEF, underscores these public health challenges.

It is our belief that technology has a role to play the overall health system and in that way make an impact on public health.

Information technology tools have the potential to impact the health system in a number of areas: information management, management of health services, human resource management, and financing. Information Technology is a key element for strong Health Management Information Systems (HMIS), logistics management, hospital management, financial management, telemedicine, etc. Used effectively technology has enormous potential to improve information flows and the dissemination of evidence-based knowledge. Lastly, and perhaps the area with the greatest potential, technology has the potential to empower citizens.

I would like to illustrate the potential of technology with a simple example from our recent experience with NFHS-3. Currently provisional data at the national level and from 29 states is available for 39 key indicators. The data are readily available on the internet. Without any other dissemination efforts, we have seen over 150 media articles in major newspapers and electronic media.

This was only possible because the easy access to the data in a timely fashion. This information is now helping to generate and inform public debate on immunization, malnutrition, antenatal care and other areas. This has also brought this information to the attention of the Prime Minister, the Health Minister, the Planning Commission and opinion leaders such as the Noble laureate Amartya Sen. Technology has helped to make this happen and in this way is instrumental in helping us all to focus on key programmatic areas in the health sector.

Apart from improved dissemination and evidence based decision making, there are numerous other examples of how the appropriate use of IT translates into direct improvements in health and savings in resources.

For years public health experts grappled with connecting the rural poor to services. By using IT we can help to improve services to those in remote areas through remote consultation and diagnosis and treatment through telemedicine. Effectively using technology can also help to provide timely reminders to patients to take their medication for TB, HIV and other ailments. Technology is a powerful tool to increase awareness about various public health issues and can be used to track outbreaks of epidemics and ensure that effective methods for prevention and treatment can reach people in time.

India is considered to be a Mecca for innovations in technology. The challenge for us is to ensure that we can use technology solutions for better health outcomes. Significant information technology advances have been made in India and more innovations are on the anvil. It is important that public health stakeholders and the private sector join hands to share their experiences and evaluate future areas of working together on this front.

A challenge for us all is to ensure that the use of technology is appropriate. It must be adapted to local conditions and needs.

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is happy to be jointly organizing this workshop with Microsoft. We hope that it offers a platform for us all to share experiences on how technology has been and can be used to promote better health outcomes. We also hope that we can discuss ways to scale-up some of these interventions to meet the needs of India in a meaningful way.
 

Thank you.