Information technology(IT) has become an integral element of our daily lives due to the benefits that it provides with many operations in our professional and personal lives now predicated on its utilization. The health sector is no exception. Technology has the potential to transform the way healthcare services and information are delivered around the world, particularly in rural and underdeveloped areas. The reality of the 21st century has evolved into a massive “cyber-planet.”
According to the World Health Organization, “eHealth is the cost-effective and secure use of information and communication technologies in support of health and health-related fields such as health-care services, health surveillance, health literature, health education, knowledge, and research.”.
eHealth is the use of modern electronic information and communication technologies to deliver health care when health care providers and patients are not in direct contact and their interaction is mediated by electronic means. Health information technologies (eHealth) are viewed as a means to unlock the potential of health data for improving patients’ lives and making better use of healthcare system resources. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the European Union (EU) both recognize technology as a critical enabler of modern, patient-centered, and effective healthcare. The Ministry of Health of the Government of Uganda also recognizes e-Health as a platform for improving healthcare delivery by allowing doctors to consult and diagnose patients remotely, access patients’ medical information, provide district health information surveillance data, and facilitate research studies.
Telemedicine is a type of health-care delivery in which doctors utilize telecommunications technology to examine patients who are located in distant and hard to reach places. The dynamics that are propelling telemedicine improve the quality and accessibility of health care by integrating information and communication technologies in the health sector.Telehealth is distinct from telemedicine in that it encompasses a broader range of remote health-care services. Telemedicine describes remote clinical services, whereas telehealth is used to describe remote non-clinical services.
In Uganda today the rising discipline of telemedicine is still yet to be explored further. Telemedicine solutions allow for the electronic communication and sharing of medical information, making remote expertise more accessible. Telemedicine also includes a wide range of services, with teleradiology, telepathology, teledermatology, teleconsultation, telemonitoring, telesurgery, and teleophthalmology being among the most frequently mentioned in peer reviews.
The Uganda National ehealth strategy 2017-2021 lays down several strategic objectives that facilitate information flow to support the delivery of ehealth services in the country, which include establishing mHealth services to enable electronic delivery of quality health, reduce isolation, amplify the voices of the disadvantaged, and provide means to individuals to influence health systems, establishing telehealth services to enable electronic delivery of quality health care to individuals in remote areas lacking needed expertise and establishing an eHealth Data, Information and Knowledge Management, Analysis and Utilization System.among others. This ehealth strategy highlights the intended infrastructure to include computing infrastructure, databases, directory services, infrastructure development & management, connectivity and storage. However as of 2022, no concrete infrastructure has been put in place.
Despite the potential of e-health technology services, such as the delivery of high-quality health care around the world, previous studies have shown that the strategic advantage of e-health technology is particularly relevant to developing countries, where access to essential social services such as high-quality health care is limited by weak government policies, political conflicts, and a lack of modern technology infrastructure (Omary et al., 2010)
However, during these times of social distancing, the Covid 19 Pandemic prompted the development of various telemedicine applications in Uganda. Examples of these applications include “Seven” an Application where one may book appointments, talk to a doctor, get free health advice, and look for specialist clinics launched by the Seven Doctors Uganda, GoGP+ App,and tele-consultation provider Rocket Health uganda. Also the use of unmanned drones has shown feasible for delivery of life-saving medical supplies, the Reuters, through a pilot program in Kalangala, Uganda, distributed HIV treatment medicines by drone.
E-health necessitates new forms of patient-physician interaction, as well as new challenges and threats to ethical issues such as online professional practice, informed consent, privacy, and equity. Because of new information technology in health care, the precise rules that define sufficient privacy protection, or, more particularly, what the famous informed consent is useful for, are still a source of contention. Is permission still the most important consideration in any decision to legalize unusual data processing? Is it considered adequate justification for giving universal access to an identified person’s sensitive data on the eHealth platform for research purposes of public interest?
In health care, privacy and trust are proving increasingly important. The doctor–patient interaction is built on the notion of privacy. Patients must share information with their doctors to ensure proper diagnosis and treatment, as well as to avoid dangerous drug interactions. Articles 7 and 8 of the Charter of Fundamental Human Rights (The European Chapter) recognizes the right to privacy and data protection as fundamental rights that must be maintained.
“The “Hippocratic Oath” which established the medical profession’s ethical need for confidentiality, which was later supported by the World Medical Association’s Declaration of Geneva (1948).” Medical practitioners swear that; “What I may see or hear in the course of the treatment, or even outside of the treatment, which of no account one must transmit abroad, I shall keep to myself,”
Article 27 of the Constitution of the Republic of Uganda 1995 as amended establishes the right to privacy, stating that no person shall be subjected to interference with the privacy of his or her home, correspondences, communication, or other property. The Ugandan Data Protection and Privacy Act of 2019 (the Act) intends to protect persons and their personal data by regulating personal data processing by state and non-state entities both inside and outside Uganda. The Act defines Personal data as any information about a person that can be used to identify that person and is recorded in any form, including data about the person’s nationality, age, or marital status; the person’s educational level or occupation; an identification number, symbol, or other particulars assigned to a person; identity data; or other information in the possession of, or likely to come into the possession of the data controller.
Section 7(2)(e) of the Act states that personal data may also be collected or processed in order to comply with a legal obligation imposed on the data controller. The National Information Technology Authority of Uganda (‘NITA-U’) is the country’s data protection authority, and it also keeps track of any organization, person, or government body that collects or processes personal data. The right to privacy includes the ability to limit the disclosure of personal information Consent is required prior to the collection or processing of personal data (Section 7(2) of the Act).
For any eHealth practice to succeed in earning user confidence, it must have a strong data management and record-keeping foundation. Through the integration of an eHealth application, India’s Health Management and Research Institute has developed over 10 million unique electronic health records, making it one of the world’s largest public eHealth record databases.
The existence of Uganda’s data protection law has had little effect on state or non-state actors in changing their policies and practices in accordance with the Act’s obligations. Absolutely astounding amounts of personal data, including sensitive personal data, are still being collected by both the government and businesses in ways that violate the data protection law’s standards.
The way telehealth is offered is more complex than it may appear at first glance, the duty to provide information should be carried out in a way that ensures that the patient has a clear understanding of the nature of telemedicine service. Information must be sufficient while also taking into account the patient’s level of comprehension.
Regardless of the fact that the technology and its adoption appear to be growing at a rapid rate in Uganda. There is a need for various health sector stakeholders, including the Ministry of Health, and health practitioners’ bodies such as the Uganda Medical and Dental Practitioners Council, Uganda Allied Health Professionals Council, Pharmaceutical Society of Uganda, and Ministry of Education, to recognize telemedicine and establish laws and regulations on its use.The question of licencing is a major unresolved issue that may well cause controversy in the context of privacy and liability. At Centre for Technology Disputes Resolution Uganda CTDR-U(a technology law and regulatory policy think tank), we facilitate and review privacy compliance terms and conditions of ehealth applications for corporations, tech firms, and any other in this regard, we help in regulatory policy for ehealth.
