Egabon

The development objective of the eGabon Project for Gabon is to: (i) improve the timeliness and availability of information to support the delivery and management of public health services; and (ii) to foster the development and roll-out of eHealth applications and services, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) services more generally. It comprises the following three components. The first component, strengthening the National Health Information System (NHIS) is to improve the timeliness and availability of information to support health service delivery and management which should contribute to improving Gabon’s human development outcomes. The NHIS should lead to improved accountability and work productivity for the health professionals, both in terms of reducing the administrative burden for health care workers, and minimizing administrative and medical errors. It will significantly change the way in which health workers deliver care, especially those in rural areas where clinicians will have easier access to relevant specialists in urban areas, who would be available for any needed consultation. Electronic medical records and ePrescribing, together with clinical decision support capability, should allow clinical staff to improve both diagnosis and treatment, and reduce medical and prescribing mistakes due to illegible handwriting or unclear abbreviations on hand-written notes. Improved diagnosis and treatment should reduce the incidence of unnecessary hospitalization and lessen the financial burden on the poor. The quality of data available to inform management decision-making would similarly improve, since much of it would be collected in real-time as part of the clinical encounter; The second component, advancing the digital innovation ecosystem development is to contribute to Gabon’s economic diversification by fostering the emergence of a digital innovation ecosystem. This will include the development of a digital incubator in Libreville and...