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. 2021 Jan 25:8:574505.
doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2020.574505. eCollection 2020.

COVID-19 and Teleneurology in Sub-Saharan Africa: Leveraging the Current Exigency

Philip Babatunde Adebayo  1 , Olusegun John Oluwole  2 , Funmilola Tolulope Taiwo  3
Affiliations

COVID-19 and Teleneurology in Sub-Saharan Africa: Leveraging the Current Exigency

Philip Babatunde Adebayo et al. Front Public Health. .

Abstract

Africa has over 1.3 billion inhabitants, with over 60% of this population residing in rural areas that have poor access to medical experts. Despite having a ridiculously huge, underserved population, very few African countries currently have any form of sustained and organized telemedicine practice, and even fewer have dedicated tele-neurology services. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has proved to be one of the most significant disruptors of vital sectors of human endeavor in modern times. In the healthcare sector, there is an increasing advocacy to deliver non-urgent care via telemedicine. This paper examined the current state of tele-neurology practice and infrastructural preparedness in sub-Saharan Africa. Currently, there is over 70% mobile phone penetration in most of the countries and virtually all of them have mobile internet services of different technologies and generations. Although the needed infrastructure is increasingly available, it should be improved upon. We have proposed the access, costs, ethics, and support (ACES) model as a bespoke, holistic strategy for the successful implementation and advancement of tele-neurology in sub-Saharan Africa.

Keywords: Africa; COVID-19; coronavirus; telehealth; teleneurology.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Africa's mobile cellular penetration map.
Figure 2
Figure 2
ACES model for expansion of teleneurology services in Sub-Sahran Africa.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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