ABSTRACT
The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) programme, Pan Asia Networking, supports research into new ways of using information and communication technology in the areas of health, livelihoods and governance. The IDRC supported the application of geographical information systems for mapping malaria risk in Africa, for endemic disease control in Botswana and Senegal, and for malaria control in the Amazon Basin. In the Pan Asia Networking programme, more pervasive technologies, such as mobile phones and personal digital assistants, are expected to be important for health applications. IDRC will continue to support research and development projects in telemedicine and e-health in its next five-year planning cycle beyond 2010. Sufficient evidence has been generated from work carried out by IDRC partners and others to show that implementing telemedicine and e-health applications can have many benefits, including direct benefits to patients. The system included teleconsultation and telediagnosis applications, medical information display software, a blood pressure and fetal heart rate interface, and an ECG interface.
