South Africa

摘要

The South African Medical Research Council (MRC) believes telemedicine, which uses modern technology to provide healthcare, could be the next step in treating rural and poor communities. The MRC hosts the second Telemedicines Conference in Cape Town, inviting government, stakeholders and academics to discuss the role this technology can play in the country's health sector. Unit Director of Telemedicine at the MRC Jill Sortuin has dismissed scepticism around the form of treatment. In 2009, the Botshabelo community in the Free State became one of the first beneficiaries of four primary healthcare telemedicine workstations to be established at rural hospitals in the province. Funded by the Innovation Fund - an initiative of the Department of Science and Technology - the telemedicine workstations were developed by the Stellenbosch University and the MRC.