PROMOTION OF NATIONAL HEALTH Policy Context Information and communications technologies are increasingly been deployed to facilitate the delivery of health services in a number of countries. These technologies are providing a number of opportunities to facilitate the modernization of the operations of the health delivery system in Ghana to improve access to the nation’s limited health facilities and resources and to provide access to health information and other services to a wider section of the community. Key areas of possible applications include: the implementation of telemedicine systems; the development of health information and management systems; the deployment of ICTs to facilitate the spread of health and medical services to rural and under-served areas; the use of ICTs to support medical education and training among others. Specifically in the area of public health information, it is acknowledged that ICTs can be used to facilitate the collection, analysis and the dissemination of information to support health education and awareness creation as well as for supporting decision making related to health and population-wide issues. Policy Statement The Government is committed to implementing a number of initiatives aimed at facilitating the widespread deployment and utilization of ICTs to support the activities and the operations of the health delivery system throughout the country. Specific initiatives will include implementing a national telemedicine programme to support nation-wide health service delivery including rural and communitybased health services as well as to support community-based continuing medical education of health professionals. The Government as part of this commitment shall invest in ICT based healthcare systems to ensure that Ghanaians have access to appropriate healthcare delivery. This will include networking healthcare institutions to collate information, share data and communicate online, establishing internet connectivity and access to healthcare professionals, and making ICT skills acquisition mandatory for all healthcare professional. Policy Objectives and Strategies Objectives • To improve the health status of the population while focusing efforts on reducing inequalities in health. • To promote the implementation of telemedicine applications within the Health Delivery System • To integrate and deploy ICTs in health program delivery with targets for health education, training and preventive detection. 60