Digital African Health Library

Primary care health workers in sub-Saharan Africa largely practice in an information-poor and resource-constrained environment and do not usually have access to medical libraries. Despite frequent calls to ‘connect Africa’, the cost and bandwidth issues of computer and web-based solutions make access to relevant decision support information a distant promise in most rural African health facilities.

The Digital African Health Library is designed to bridge these gaps. As an integrated, smartphone-based, point-of-care decision support resource, it provides evidence-based, locally relevant decision support and health information which has been shown to lead to more informed patient care. Integrated search capabilities over several categories of evidence-based resources can lead to a more accurate diagnosis and more focused management plan.

The project has successfully rolled out in 7 African countries including Ethiopia, Botswana, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, and Somalia. It has developed a version 2 that includes over 50 evidence-based resources, leading to improved patient care and clinical decision-making in resource-constrained settings.