Wits was recently awarded a National Medical Device Innovation Platform (NMDIP)* Hub based on its collective substantial research expertise, its continued innovation in science, its growth in research outputs, its commitment to supervising the next cohort of new scientists and the combined research infrastructure demonstrated by three research groups working in related fields.

These are the Wits Drug Delivery Platform (WDDP), the Biomedical Engineering Research Group (BERG), and the Molecular Research Diagnostic Group (MRDG). Five other higher education institutions are also linked to this programme.

The Medical Research Council-Wits Hub of the NMDIP is focused on several areas of research into the development of novel technologies under the Institutional Directorship of Professor Viness Pillay. One such area is Telemedicine, with David Bayever as the Research Director based within the Department of Pharmacy and Pharmacology.

David Bayever was recently interviewed on his view pertaining to key issues regarding this subject.

Is it overly optimistic to expect telemedicine to be widely used in South Africa?

Innovation is about developing solutions which will allow an established need to be addressed and in this case, in a cost-effective manner. There is no doubt that this is an essential tool for any developing country to embrace as a solution for supplying support to remote and rural medical facilities. In South Africa, it will expand access to quality healthcare, using the limited expertise and resources available.

The cost of connectivity may be a stumbling block, and if it is, then this is an area that needs to be addressed in earnest by the government. The National Health Act (61 of 2003) S3 (1) and (2) makes it mandatory for the Minister of Health to make resources available at all levels, in line with the Constitutional rights of the people of South Africa. It is therefore imperative for attention to be paid to the integration of available technology in order to provide affordable healthcare to under-developed areas.

How could technology benefit those who need it most?

Telemedicine uses information and communication technologies to provide healthcare services, access and education when service providers and patients are separated by distance.

The use of telemedicine with advanced high definition imaging will allow specialists and academics to reach people in remote areas of the country. The use of technology will eliminate travelling time, be more cost-effective, strengthen the referral system and eliminate unnecessary travel to major centres.

How widely is telemedicine used in South Africa?

This technology is not currently widely used in the country, but is certainly an enabling technology.

For example, the potential role of telemedicine in South Africa could gain momentum for widespread use by complementing government?s proposed National Health Insurance (NHI) strategy. In this regard, telemedicine may be of high value in specific areas. For example, its use is self-explanatory in Clinical Informatics (collating, storing, tracking, managing and making available all relevant data such as disease research, patient backgrounds, statistics and treatment plans), which can facilitate a remote interface between the healthcare professional and the patient in a rural area. This will involve an initial investment in information technology, computer science and biomedical informatics, but it will ultimately help to reduce the cost burden of the overall NHI system by decreasing unnecessary hospital admissions visits for common disease symptoms.

Has there been a growth in the users of this technology?

Telemedicine is used successfully in countries like China.

Can telemedicine replace a doctor?

Telemedicine extends the reach of the healthcare professionals, rather than replacing him/her. The idea is not to replace the doctor but to utilise the healthcare professional in areas where they would otherwise not be able to reach. We already have a number of well-established healthcare facilities with competent staff who can be trained further, if necessary, in the use of these diagnostic tools. For example, community pharmacy has a huge footprint throughout the country where the pharmacist (or nurse) working in these facilities can support a patient using the expertise of a specialist physician who can remotely direct the treatment and allow the monitoring to take place at the facility.

* About the National Medical Device Innovation Platform (NMDIP)

In February 2008 representatives from the medical device community (academia, government and industry) in South Africa with delegates from the USA and the UK conceived a Department of Science and Technology event entitled the Medical Device Innovation Summit. Following further deliberations, the National Medical Device Innovation Platform (NMDIP) was born. In March 2010, the Medical Research Council (MRC) extended a Call for Proposals to establish an MRC/University NMDIPin collaboration with suitable higher education institutions (HEIs). Three research groups at Wits responded to this call in order to realise the establishment of a MRC/NMDIP Hub at Wits as part of the ?Hub and Spoke? model planned by the MRC. These constituted the Wits Drug Delivery Platform (WDDP), the Biomedical Engineering Research Group (BERG), and the Molecular Research Diagnostic Group (MRDG).

Due to the substantial research expertise, in terms of continued innovation in science, growth in research outputs, supervising the next cohort of new scientists in the field and the combined research infrastructure demonstrated by these research groups, Wits was awarded an NMDIP Hub among five other HEIs with feeder institutions as ?spokes?.