Revolutionizing the Healthcare Paradigm in Africa: Prospects of eHealth and mHealth

a Both authors contributed equally in this work. Healthcare systems around the world are undergoing rapid transformations steered by groundbreaking innovations in health science, medical technology, the information revolution, and global integration. Globalization has also been a crucial player in global health transition and has influenced almost all spheres of modern life. Arguably, the benefits of globalization have been very uneven among and within nations and have deepened social and economic polarization. These events in the global arena, in combination with complex regional contexts have had many direct and indirect repercussions on public health and have placed healthcare systems in developing countries under sudden enormous pressure. The poor countries like in Africa and South Asia are experiencing a swift demographic and health transition and that requires modification in the current health paradigm in order to cope up with the emerging healthcare challenges. This paper focuses on the prospects of eHealth and mHealth in the context of African countries. Globally, especially in the developed countries, eHealth and mHealth have already become popular in the mainstream healthcare system and they are still being studied to enhance their scopes. In the context of developing countries however, the perspectives of these technologies remains to be adequately understood. Key terms eHealth; mHealth; Africa; healthcare; health governance