AKDN Digital Health Program
Improving access to health care for remote, rural populations in South-Central Asia and East Africa
South-Central Asia
The AKDN Digital Health Program uses Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) to offer specialized healthcare services to populations living in remote, rural areas across four countries in South-Central Asia. It has been operational since 2007 and connects service-receiving facilities, called spoke sites, with service-offering facilities, called hub sites, which have specialist health services. The Program was started with the connection of the French Medical Institute for Mothers and Children (FMIC) to the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi for teleradiology services. The Program now serves patients and health care professions, through healthcare service provision and capacity-building services through eLearning.
7228
Teleconsultations Provided
5659
Health Professionals Trained
924
eLearning Sessions
66
Digital Health Sites
Teleconsultation session between Khorog Oblast General Hospital and Darwaz District Hospital
Tajikistan
eLearning session between the French Medical Institute for Mothers and Children, Afghanistan and the Khorog Oblast General Hospital, Tajikistan
Cross-border (Afghanistan to Tajikistan)
East Africa
The AKDN Digital Health Program commenced in East Africa in May 2013 as part of the Joining Hands Initiative (JHI). Live teleconsultation services were provided from the Aga Khan Hospital, Dar es Salaam to Primary Medical Centers in Dodoma and Mwanza, linking three AKDN facilities. eLearning services were also introduced under the JHI. Following the conclusion of JHI in 2015, digital health services such as teleconsultations and eLearning sessions were resumed in East Africa in 2018. Currently, eLearning services under the AKDN Digital Health Program connect several health centers in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda as spoke sites with the Aga Khan Health Board (AKHB) in the USA and Aga Khan Hospital, Mombasa, among other hub sites.
Through the Program, teleconsultations enhance healthcare access for remote, rural populations, while eLearning services cultivate the skills and expertise of physicians, nurses, allied health care professionals and healthcare administrators, contributing to improved clinical and administrative skills.
To learn more about the impact of the Program, please visit the Impact section.