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Mandaza Chikarango Herald Correspondent

The introduction of virtual hospitals by the Government is an important addition to the management of chronic illnesses, Deputy Minister of Health and Child Welfare Dr John Mangwiro said yesterday.

Under the Second Republic upgrades, the Health Ministry has now established virtual hospitals to enable a far higher level of self-management of chronic diseases like cancer, hypertension, HIV, diabetes and others with more person-centred care and patient self-management.

In an interview during the Harare Institute of Technology (HIT) Expo, Dr Mangwiro said the new technology will go a long way in fostering ever-more robust health services in the country.

Already this is seeing the need for standardisation in the way health practitioners discharge their duties.

“Telemedicine which is the aspect of video calling in treating patients, would enable doctors to have a proper way of referring patients. But the need for formalisation and standardisation are home grown health solutions,” he said.

HIT is hosting its Technovation Expo this week. The Technovation Expo will run under the theme “Creating Synergies with Industry through Innovation, Technology and Research”.

It is characterised by public lectures, a hackathon, research symposium with exhibitions, and a biomedical symposium.

The objective of the expo is to create a perfect opportunity to network, create synergies as well as create brand visibility.

The Technovation Expo’s purpose is to: Showcase HIT research and development, and innovation outputs including intellectual property, products and services, to a wide ranging audience including academics, and industry practitioners.

The expo creates an opportunity for networking and building partnerships with industry and other organisations, provides a platform for identifying research problems and proffers solutions.

It promotes science, engineering and technology as vehicles for national development and wealth creation, further advances and demonstrates STEM, raises technological awareness among students and industry and commerce, and provides information on the careers of the future.

Ndanatsei Ashley Antonio, a pre-registration pharmacist at Murehwa District hospital, said they had established CARE4TB a mobile application which provides daily reminders to TB patients to take medication on time, hence helping in improving drug compliance among them.

“The administrative website captures patient details and ensures there is increased compliance as patients are notified on their gadgets on dates and time to take medication.”

Chairperson of HIT Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering, Engineer Mary Chikuruwo, said the main thrust is centred in creating synergies between industry and academia in an effort to revitalise the industry.

“By inviting captains of industry, CEOs, founders of companies we motivate our students in the direction they can take in their career path,” she said.