Wole Faroun, co-founder of recently launched online drug reference platform MedEnhanz, believes the reaction of some patients to doctors consulting their smartphone before making a decision is a major obstacle for mobile technology in Nigeria’s health sector.
“They believe he doesn’t know what he is doing,” Faroun told HumanIPO.
HumanIPO reported yesterday how MedEnhanz was working to give doctors faster and more efficient access to the correct drug information.
The reason for the lack of trust, according to Faroun, is because there is no precedent for mobile technology in the Nigerian health sector and people associate it with a lack of seriousness with physicians who may be relying on the device.
He however said MedEnhanz is overcoming this mindset by partnering with associations of doctors in the public and private sectors.
Faroun also decried the paucity of research information on drug and clinical trials carried out in Nigeria so that they can be easily referenced on the platform.
“We are tackling this by collaborating with relevant government agencies including the ministry of health, NAFDAC, universities and teaching hospitals to secure access to these publications,” he said.
He added that to tackle the challenge of the inconsistent quality of internet services, he said MedEnhanz is working on an offline platform that could run in circumstances where internet access is not guaranteed.
“Such areas include rural areas. While the internet service quality in such areas may be unpredictable, we can agree that healthcare providers in such areas have mobile phones. With the mobile offline version, healthcare professionals anywhere would be able to access the platform,” he said.
He however hinted that internet connection would be required for the regular updates.
