%0 Journal Article
%T A Framework for Sustainable Implementation of E-Medicine in Transitioning Countries
%A Stephen Robert Isabalija
%A Victor Mbarika
%A Geoffrey Mayoka Kituyi
%J International Journal of Telemedicine and Applications
%D 2013
%I Hindawi Publishing Corporation
%R 10.1155/2013/615617
%X Organizations in developed countries such as the United States of America and Canada face difficulties and challenges in technology transfer from one organization to another; the complexity of problems easily compounds when such transfers are attempted from developed to developing countries due to differing socioeconomic and cultural environments. There is a gap in the formation of research and education programs to address technology transfer issues that go beyond just transferring the technologies to sustaining such transfers for longer periods. This study examined telemedicine transfer challenges in three Sub-Sahara African countries and developed a framework for sustainable implementation of e-medicine. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used. The study findings indicate that e-medicine sustainability in Sub-Saharan Africa is affected by institutional factors such as institutional environment and knowledge management practices; technical factors such as the technological environment and technology transfer project environment; social environmental factors such as social environment and donor involvement. These factors were used to model the proposed framework. 1. Introduction Healthcare is unarguably one of the most fundamental needs for Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), considering the region¡¯s multiple medical problems. The health statistics of SSA are deplorable. The academic and practitioner literature report many medical problems of SSA. Yet SSA is the most vulnerable to disease, given the prevalent social, economic, and environmental factors. For instance, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that by the end of year 2009, over 32.9 million people worldwide were living with HIV/AIDS. Out of these, 22 million (approximately 68%) live in SSA [1]. By the end of year 2009, the percentages of people living with HIV/AIDS in Botswana, Central African Republic, and Swaziland were still the highest in the world [1, 2]. Further to the above, out of the estimated 9.7 million number of children under the age of five who die every year due to lack of access to medical facilities worldwide, 41% live in SSA. Research shows that malaria is responsible for as many as half the deaths of African children under the age of five. This disease kills more than one million children (2,800 per day) each year in Africa alone. In regions of intense transmission, 40% of toddlers may die of acute malaria. In most malaria cases, however, there is a good chance of survival if timely and appropriate medical attention is provided. Other diseases that plague
%U http://www.hindawi.com/journals/ijta/2013/615617/