PANEL CHAIR

THE STATE OF HEALTH INFORMATICS IN BOTSWANA

Kagiso Ndlovu
Botswana - U Penn Partnership, Botswana

Abstract

The BUP believes that quality medicine should be available to populations in need. Through clinical care, research and medical education, the BUP is devoted to building capacity in sustainable and high quality healthcare in Botswana. The BUP Health Informatics Capacity Building Program has been operating since 2010 and has worked with local partners to develop locally- relevant Health Informatics curriculum, provide sensitization and capacity building workshops, and research and sustainably scale up mHealth initiatives, with cornerstone telemedicine and mLearning projects.
Presentation Topics:
1. Ministry of Health approach to Health Informatics and eHealth Policy – Dr. Kabelo Makogacha
2. Lessons Learned from Introducing Botswana’s First “Introduction to Health Informatics” Course – Roy Tapera and Dr. Tony Luberti
3. The Role and Promise of Libraries and mLearning in Health Informatics – Dineo Ketshogileng
4. Health Informatics Capacity Building Initiatives – Kagiso Ndlovu
Panel Discussion Questions:
● In your experience, what are the most significant Health Informatics achievements in Botswana to date? What lessons have been learned from this progress?
● What are the greatest challenges facing the establishment and growth of the Health Informatics field in Botswana?
● In your experience, who are the largest stakeholders and who are the largest beneficiaries of Health Informatics projects?
● What preparation and/or resources are needed for Botswana to fully implement and experience the benefits of Health Informatics throughout its healthcare system?
● What types of regulations and policies are needed?
● What do you think the state of Health Informatics in Botswana will be five years from now? Ten years from now?
Mr. Roy Tapera
A Phd student and holds a Master of Public Health and Bachelor of Health Promotion degree. Has more than 10 years experience in Public Health issues. He is an educator and a curriculum developer, have developed Master of Public Health (Health Promotion) for University of Zimbabwe, Public Health Programs for Boitekanelo College and founder of Boitekanelo Research Department. He was also part of a team that developed Health Informatics course for University of Botswana. Areas of interest are in Behavior change, Epidemiology, Disease surveillance and Health Informatics.
Dineo Ketshogileng
She holds a first degree in Environmental Science and History. She qualified for a Masters in Library & Information Science (MLIS) at the University of Botswana in 2001 . Dineo’s area of interest is health Information, information literacy, health informatics and mLearning. She has two international publications that deal with mLearning and health informatics. She was instrumental in the establishment of health sciences branch libraries across the country to support Botswana’s first medical school. She has experience in Health libraries, mLearning and Health Informatics having worked as an intern at the University of Pennsylvania Biomedical Library. She is currently working closely with the Botswana-UPenn Partnership, MEPI, and The University of Botswana Faculty of Medicine in an mLearning project to facilitate student’s learning. She helped organised Botswana’s first health informatics conference which also embraced the role of libraries in health informatics. She has done capacity building workshops for doctors, health librarians in the areas of health information and health informatics. She is currently co-teaching a course in Health Informatics at the University of Botswana.
Mr. Kagiso Ndlovu
Health Informatics and Telemedicine Program Manager at Botswana Upenn Partnership. Has specialized in an MSc in Computer Science and an Honors Degree in Socio-Informatics. Has worked with the Ministry of Health under the IT Department for 6 years. Recently certified in PRINCE2 Project Management. Currently engaged as a project manager for the implementation of the first scale-up of a Mobile Telemedicine solution “Kgonafalo” with the Ministry of Health in Botswana. Actively participated in the coordination of a number of other Health Informatics initiatives in Botswana including the 2013 and 2014 mHealth Innovation Competitions and "Hack the Change" initiative all of which was a collaboration among different local stakeholders. Has been working very closely with the University of Botswana Computer Science department on several other mHealth projects at Masters Level and also took part in curriculum development and teaching of the Introduction to Health Informatics course at the University of Botswana Health Sciences. An active member involved in the formation of the first Health Informatics Society of Botswana.