The development of telehealth as a strategy to improve health care services in Zambia

Background:  Providing health information and knowledge to health practitioners in rural parts of Africa is a major problem, impacting on the delivery of health care and professional development. In Zambia, as in other African countries, medical expertise, equipment and information resources are concentrated in the major cities with an adverse effect on patients living in rural areas. Objectives:  We seek to outline the benefits of telehealth initiatives in ameliorating the problems caused by the inequitable distribution of expertise, equipment and knowledge resources in a low‐income country. The principles agreed to take advantage of technology and the progress towards implementation are described. Methods:  This is a descriptive study based on the literature, news reports, and the personal experience of the first author on the Zambian National Telehealth Steering Committee. Results and Conclusions:  The introduction of telehealth to solve some of the problems of health delivery in Zambia is a gigantic enterprise, and liable to setbacks. But the librarians at the University of Zambia Medical Library, with a history of making knowledge available and their involvement in the telehealth strategy, are seeking opportunities to provide better outreach services to hospitals and health facilities throughout the country.