Human, technical and political factors for better coordination and support of e-health in Africa

Our objective is to inform e-health policymaking towards better health outcomes through a bottom-up evidence-based holistic approach. BETTEReHEALTH will set up four Regional Hubs based in Tunisia, Ghana, Ethiopia and Malawi, already endorsed by each country's Ministry of Health. Each hub will organise coordination and networking activities (including two regional workshops) involving national and regional actors. We are planning actions to address three aspects related to successful e-health: human, technical and public policy factors. We will also organise two international workshops to promote the cooperation and networking between Europe and Africa. BETTEReHEALTH will create open access registries by collecting information from African countries regarding e-health policies and existing e-health solutions. The registries will be used to identify best-practices and produce useful knowledge regarding e-health implementation. The knowledge produced in registries, together with the input from the other activities will be synthesized into e-health policy roadmaps and strategic implementation plans for better e-health services for the four countries hosting Regional Hubs, but will also be of high relevance for other African countries. The strengths of BETTEReHEALTH are the diversity of the involved partners, which will contribute to an interdisciplinary approach (including health, technical and policymaking actors), the evidence-based approach guaranteed by the academic and research partners, and the strong local involvement ensured by the four Regional Hubs. BETTEReHEALTH will increase the level of international cooperation in e-health, inform and strengthen end-user communities and policy makers in making the right decisions for the successful implementation of e-health, and lead to increased opportunities for stakeholders in Africa and Europe with the overall aim of better health outcomes through better healthcare accessibility and higher quality.