BACKGROUND

This curriculum will focus on innovation and field practice to address priority health issues.

The degree is awarded by the Universities of Bamako, Cheikh Anta Diop in Dakar and Félix Houphouët-Boigny in Abidjan, in partnership with the Fondation Pierre Fabre.

The creation of this degree, announced at the 2018 Global South eHealth Observatory Conference, is designed to improve and expand skills in use of eHealth to improve patient care, public health management and equity in access to healthcare, as well as to optimise healthcare expenditures. The objective is to find and develop innovations aligned with countries’ healthcare strategies to nurture skills that will contribute to rational, harmonious, lasting development of these innovative tools to benefit people in need.

The coursework, with a total volume of 100 hours, will be in two parts: distance learning for the theory classes and in-class group work for the remainder. The programme will also align with the healthcare priorities of the three countries involved and will address subjects like project management, interoperability and regulatory issues. The curriculum is designed for eHealth managers working at Global South ministries of health and technology; professional health practitioners who are users or potential users of eHealth; startup promoters (innovators) and computer scientists working in the healthcare sector; and eHealth managers or officers at international and Non-Governmental Organisations. In 2019, approximately 25 candidates will be recruited following the call for applications available here.

A new digital health lab provides support

Lastly, to ensure long-term support for this educational programme and professional development in digital health, the Fondation Pierre Fabre has helped create an Innovation and Digital Health Laboratory that has been named “Digi-Santé-Mali”. The facility has opened at the University of Sciences, Techniques and Technologies of Bamako (USTTB) to provide a recognised, professional academic structure to develop training and research in the eHealth field. It is the first brick-and-mortar centre dedicated specifically to digital health in French-speaking Africa.

In 2021, 21 healthcare and digital professionals from nine countries in Sub-Saharan Africa followed the curriculum for the InterUniversity Degree in eHealth at the Centre for Innovation and Digital Health in Bamako, Mali. Over the past three years, 59 professionals from 16 countries have benefited from the Foundation’s eHealth scholarships in in Africa.