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 WHO’s
Sri Lanka
eHealth Project was initiated in collaboration with the Ministry of Health
(MoH) with the aim of strengthening health services in the country,
especially in the peripheral and the Tsunami- affected areas. The Project
aims to provide training and continuing professional development
opportunities for all healthcare workers, and give them access to essential
and up-to-date medical information.
Eight sites were identified for establishing dedicated
e-Learning/e-Health facilities. This included five hospitals and three
non-hospital sites, namely, the Sri Lanka Medical Association headquarters
and the Post-Graduate Institute of Medicine, both in Colombo, as well as the Faculty of
Medicine, Peradeniya. The Kandy Teaching Hospital was chosen as the hub for
the Project.
A Workshop was jointly organized by the Ministry of
Healthcare and Nutrition and the WHO, with the following objectives:
 to review of the current status of the
development of a National Health IT Infrastructure of Sri Lanka
to develop a consensus and common perspective
on the problems to be addressed nationally and the strategies that can be
employed to address barriers for education and clinical implementation
to discuss good practices and lessons learned
and the implications for implementation for Sri Lanka.
 This took place on 10th March 2006, under
the patronage of the Minister of Healthcare and Nutrition, Hon. Nimal
Siripala De Silva. Several senior officials of the Ministry as well as the
WHO Representative to Sri
Lanka, Dr. Agostino Borra were among the
large and distinguished gathering. Some of the participants included several
national and international experts in eHealth, and other key stakeholders including
international NGOs and donors. Richard Granger, Director General of NHS IT, UK and Chief
Executive, NHS Connecting for Health, was the keynote speaker, while Dr.
Steffen Groth, Director of Essential Health Technologies Department at WHO HQ
and Dr. Sultana Khanum, Director of SEARO also addressed the workshop.
eCapacity
Enhancement in the Health Sector: The Sri Lanka eHealth Project
WHO’s Sri
Lanka eHealth Project was initiated in
collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MoH) with the aim of strengthening
health services in the country, especially in the peripheral and the Tsunami-
affected areas. This was to be accomplished by establishing the necessary
initial ICT infrastructure for eHealth and by enhancing the capacity of the
local healthcare workforce through innovative applications of low-cost and
easy-to-use technologies. The Project aims to provide training and continuing
professional development opportunities for all healthcare workers, and give
them access to essential and up-to-date medical information It is
designed to address health inequities and responds directly to critical areas
of need outlined by the MoH.
Demonstration Phase
The demonstration phase of this effort focused on building
local capacity through a three-pronged approach: 1) conducting a preliminary
needs assessment of training and professional development needs; 2)
identifying healthcare facilities with the greatest need for an ICT
infrastructure for eHealth; and, 3) developing and testing of three pilot
eLearning Modules using different delivery modes. A demo and trial of
two eLearning platforms and three learning Modules was conducted on October
21, 2005 among a sample population of about 20 doctors and nurses. The
trial involved different modes of delivery using low-bandwidth to
high-bandwidth systems.
About seven sites were identified as the early
implementation sites for establishing dedicated e-Learning/e-Health
facilities. These included five hospitals and two non-hospital sites, namely,
the Sri Lanka Medical Association Headquarters and the Post-Graduate
Institute of Medicine, both in Colombo.
Faculty of Medicine at the University
of Peradeniya was
chosen as the hub for the Project.
Moving
Forward: Development Phase
The development phase of the Project will attempt to
implement the findings of the demonstration phase by installing dedicated
eLearning systems at all sites identified; conducting more detailed needs
assessments; and, by developing more need-based content for continuing
professional development of healthcare workers, based on an internationally
accepted public health curriculum. This may also include facilitation in
clinical knowledge using e-consultations, telemedicine and distance
mentoring/coaching, training of trainers (ToT), and focused eLearning/blended
learning. The overall objective is to enable health practitioners to stay
up-to-date on the needs of patients, the health services and their own
professional development.
During the development phase, the eHealth/eLearning system
would explore the feasibility of using full-fledged videoconferencing at
selected sites. Peripheral sites would use WorldSpace Receivers in
combination with desktop computers that will not have the constraints of high
bandwidth that limit other more expensive ICT systems. Learning will be
facilitated through a blended approach, and will include on-line learning,
two-way interactive videoconferences, CD-ROMs, and on-line discussion forums,
as and when necessary. The curriculum development team will ensure that
the materials developed for training and professional development are
relevant to the needs of Sri Lankan professionals.
Resources permitting, the development phase and beyond
would also include web-based training as well as use of other networks. By
establishing eCommunities of practice, the Project will allow participants to
tap into both local and international expert knowledge. Another
objective is to link all Sri Lankan hospitals designated for case management
during a possible Avian Influenza outbreak, to enable and facilitate
multi-point communication.
It is hoped that this Project will allow the beneficiaries
to overcome the constraints imposed by the lack of infrastructure even in the
“last mile.”
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