Innovative technologies can play a critical role in the elimination of hepatitis by addressing key barriers to prevention, diagnosis and treatment of the virus. Leading medical professionals and advocates came together at the Indian Hepatitis Summit in Chennai to discuss ‘Innovations in Technologies: The Role of Technology in Hepatitis Elimination’
As the world is changing, it is important to embrace and adopt technology.
One speaker shared how they are using drones to send hepatitis testing kits and treatment into prisons. A barrier to care for prisoners within India is that it is often too difficult to arrange transport for individuals who test positive for hepatitis to access treatment outside of the prison. The drones help address this. They were tracked to make sure that they arrived at both the prisons and healthcare centres safely and with the correct content. The use of ‘telemedicine’ was also discussed, which is the use of technology, usually videoconferencing, to deliver healthcare services to the prisoners.
Even though technology has become a large part of society, there are still places where it is not used. There is a need to make technology, like apps, accessible to all, whether making them simple to use or translating them into local languages. This could lead to a larger uptake of healthcare services.
One speaker explained the use of Plus Codes on Google Maps, which are like digital addresses for locations that do not have traditional addresses. The Plus Codes were used for 15,000 households in the slums in Mumbai and was accurate to 2 metres of the door or the building. This innovation made it easier for healthcare providers to find households and provide medical care and treatment. Names of the households were not being recorded on the Plus Code, making personal information private and confidential, but healthcare providers were able to see if there was a high prevalence of hepatitis in a specific area, and action can be taken immediately. The speaker also shared that often technology is used to collect feedback rather than give feedback and shared an idea on creating apps that would give healthcare workers real time recommendations for an individual after inputting their data.
Digital health can make healthcare systems more efficient and better able to deliver good quality care. However, there are ways in which digital health can potentially fail and not deliver the desired or required outcomes. Factors such as not considering the end user, not spending enough time on system analysis and design and poorly planned budgets, can all contribute to the failure of digital health technologies.
One speaker stated that ‘good data is the lifeblood of successful programmes’ and so producing actionable information required building responsive and user-friendly systems. One key initiative mentioned was a paperless tool which was integrated into India’s data ecosystem. It featured clinical decision support systems and real-time dashboards which provided snapshots and trend views. This allows users to make informed interventions and helped identify demographic characteristics and risk factors, aiding the development of sub regional strategies and identify gaps in care. Another initiative focused improving the processes of linking hepatitis B and hepatitis C positive donors who attended blood banks to treatment pathways. To address challenges such as incorrect donor information, an Excel based data management system was introduced to the blood banks, which lead to 385 donors being linked to care.
There is a wide range of innovative technologies available, which provide sustainable solutions and if they are integrating into hepatitis elimination programmes, they will make a huge difference in the delivery of care.
If you would like more information, please contact us at projects.team@worldhepatitisalliance.org
