[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":341},["ShallowReactive",2],{"slug-china-digital-health":3},{"post":4,"relatedPosts":204,"relatedBooks":340},{"id":5,"date":6,"date_gmt":7,"guid":8,"modified":10,"modified_gmt":11,"slug":12,"status":13,"type":14,"link":15,"title":16,"content":18,"excerpt":21,"author":23,"featured_media":24,"comment_status":25,"ping_status":25,"sticky":26,"template":27,"format":28,"meta":29,"categories":30,"tags":34,"project_category":50,"contact_email_category":51,"yst_prominent_words":52,"class_list":65,"better_featured_image":90,"acf":139,"yoast_meta":148,"_links":151},23075,"2019-02-19T13:00:53","2019-02-19T11:00:53",{"rendered":9},"https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002F?post_id=23075&_wpnonce=51759a4f5a&status=auto-draft&type=post","2022-05-24T16:57:39","2022-05-24T14:57:39","china-digital-health","publish","post","https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002Fchina-digital-health",{"rendered":17},"China Is Building The Ultimate Technological Health Paradise. Or Is It?",{"rendered":19,"protected":20},"\n\u003Ctable style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #eee; border-top: 4px solid #444;\" cellpadding=\"5px\">\n\u003Ctbody>\n\u003Ctr>\n\u003Ctd style=\"width: 100%;\">\n\u003Cp style=\"color: #555;font-size: 12px;line-height: 14px\">THIS ARTICLE HAS NOT BEEN UPDATED SINCE 2019. THE INFORMATION SHARED IN THE ARTICLE WAS ACCURATE AT THE TIME OF ITS PUBLICATION, BUT IT MAY BE OUT OF DATE NOW. \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002Fmagazine\">BROWSE OUR LATEST ARTICLES HERE\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Ftd>\n\u003C\u002Ftr>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>How could a country keep around 1.4 billion\npeople healthy when the system struggles with corruption, lack of resources and\nan aging population? China, the emerging giant with a strong central leadership\nfostering technology and innovation, places its bets on artificial\nintelligence, telemedicine, cloud-based hospitals, and WeChat. While that could sound like\nan ultimate technological paradise, the question is, what are they going to do\nwith the vast amount of data or to what interests are they going to leverage\ntheir state of the art A.I. systems? Generally, how will we speak about digital\nhealth in China: a healthcare dystopia or a system in the service of the greater good?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>The Chinese healthcare landscape is ripe… \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The most populous\ncountry on Earth has 1.4 billion inhabitants, and it’s almost as huge as the entire European continent. Already\nthe sheer size of China makes it practically\nimpossible to summarize its healthcare system, not to speak about the fact that\nnumbers about almost everything \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fgeopoliticalfutures.com\u002Fchina-admits-its-statistics-are-wrong\u002F\">stemming\nfrom the National Bureau of Statistics have to be treated with caution\u003C\u002Fa>. Thus, while the People’s Daily, the official newspaper of the Central Committee of\nthe Communist Party says that by the end of 2016, the basic medical insurance has reached over 1.3\nbillion citizens nationwide, \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fen.people.cn\u002Fn3\u002F2017\u002F1020\u002Fc90000-9282677.html\">accounting for more than 95 percent of the total\npopulation\u003C\u002Fa>,\nthat should not necessarily be taken at face value. Alongside with sentences\nthat after the country launched the latest healthcare reform in 2016 to create\na unified basic health insurance system\nwhich results in more equal access for\nurban and rural residents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In spite of the\ninaccurate statistics, the trends show that the central leadership under Xi\nJinping concentrates a lot more on this area lately, most likely driven by\nincreased healthcare demand. That could have numerous explanations, but it could\nmostly be traced back to the effects of the massive economic growth on China’s\nmiddle class. \u003Cstrong>As economic drives lure more and more Chinese into the cities, who are\nspending their money more than ever before, so urbanization and rapidly\nincreasing consumer wealth if you want, “lifestyle diseases” started to take a heavier toll. What’s more, \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cstrong>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.nytimes.com\u002Finteractive\u002F2019\u002F01\u002F17\u002Fworld\u002Fasia\u002Fchina-population-crisis.html\">Beijing’s\nlegendary one-child policy began to backfire\u003C\u002Fa>:\nwhile it helped slow down population growth, it heavily shifted the country\ntowards an aging society – with all its health-related troubles.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"512\" height=\"341\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FChinese-Hospital-512x341.jpg\" alt=\"digital health in China\" class=\"wp-image-23077\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FChinese-Hospital-512x341.jpg 512w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FChinese-Hospital-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FChinese-Hospital.jpg 1122w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption>Source: www.thebeijinger.com\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>… for technological disruption\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>However, these only\ncome on top of an already strained healthcare system. China’s \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.jabfm.org\u002Fcontent\u002F29\u002F2\u002F240.full\">primary care\nsystem is mainly underused\u003C\u002Fa> due to the poor\ndistribution of resources and lack of quality general practitioners, leaving\nhospitals to bear the brunt of treating patients.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Moreover, huge disparities exist between rural and urban\ncare facilities. Thus it often happens\nthat patients from the countryside rather\ntravel long hours to get into a better hospital in Beijing or Shanghai than let\nthemselves be treated at home. \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Ftechnode.com\u002F2018\u002F02\u002F11\u002Ftencent-medical-ecosystem\u002F\">China also\ndoesn’t have enough doctors\u003C\u002Fa>: While the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fdata.oecd.org\u002Fhealthres\u002Fdoctors.htm\">OECD average is 3.19 doctors\u003C\u002Fa> for every 1,000 people, China only has \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.gov.cn\u002Fzhengce\u002Fcontent\u002F2017-01\u002F10\u002Fcontent_5158488.htm\">2.22\ndoctors and assisting physicians\u003C\u002Fa> for every 1,000\npeople. That practically means that \u003Cstrong>large rural territories with millions of people\nare without access to proper care, and people have to wait long hours to be\nable to get to the doctor.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Not to speak about corruption at every level of medical services: although universal coverage ensures some level of care, better doctors demand some special fees for treatment\u003C\u002Fstrong>. It’s also common for physicians to order excess drugs – as part of a money-making scheme played out with pharma companies. Although that changed lately with \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.china-briefing.com\u002Fnews\u002Fhealthcare-reforms-underscore-market-growth-china\u002F\">the introduction of a two-invoices system for pharma distribution\u003C\u002Fa> nationwide last year, doctors are living hard times – and not only because they are overworked and underpaid. Over the previous years, \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.albertoforchielli.com\u002Fthe-chinese-healthcare-system-how-it-works-and-future-trends\u002F\">patient-on-doctor violence has become startlingly common\u003C\u002Fa>, mostly when treatments fail. Stabbings and mob-style attacks have risen 23 percent a year on average since 2002, according to the China Hospital Management Association. This situation is a huge mental burden for doctors with an average of an incident every two weeks! No wonder the central government decided to step in. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003Cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FHospital-Scene-In-China-512x269.jpg\" alt=\"digital health in China\" class=\"wp-image-23078\"\u002F>\u003Cfigcaption>Source: www.usatoday.com\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>The promise of technologies in the Middle Kingdom\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>While massive technological\ndevelopment has taken place in China starting from the 1990s, the truly\ntransformative change only came with the realization of the central leadership\nabout the significance of innovation. As in the\ncommunist country everything has a top-down approach, and nothing can operate\nwithout the oversight of the Party – just think about \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedium.com\u002F@googlersagainstdragonfly\u002Fwe-are-google-employees-google-must-drop-dragonfly-4c8a30c5e5eb\">Google’s ill-fated Dragonfly\nproject\u003C\u002Fa>, a censored search engine for the Chinese market -, the\nboost in R&D is due to the prominence of the area in the current thirteenth\nfive-year plan (2016) and other longer-term government programs, such as China’s \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.gov.cn\u002Fenglish\u002F2006-02\u002F09\u002Fcontent_183426.htm\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">National\nMedium- and Long-Term Program for Science and Technology Development\u003C\u002Fa>, introduced in 2006. \u003Cstrong>That’s an ambitious\nplan to transform the Chinese economy into a major center of innovation by the\nyear 2020 and to make it the global leader in science and innovation by 2050.\nBut Beijing does not waste its time: it already challenges the US in the\nsupercomputer arms race, \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cstrong>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.techworld.com\u002Fpicture-gallery\u002Fdata\u002Fexamples-of-high-tech-innovation-in-china-3641347\u002F\">became\na leader in quantum research and creates its own successful space programs\u003C\u002Fa>. \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>The\ndrive in technology started to conquer every area of life and made it also possible to start the digital health\nrevolution\u003C\u002Fstrong>. First, there’s the appearance of the Internet and the rise of the “Big Three” or \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.baidu.com\u002F\">Baidu\u003C\u002Fa>, \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.alibaba.com\">Alibaba\u003C\u002Fa>\nand \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.tencent.com\u002Fen-us\u002F\">Tencent\u003C\u002Fa>, the BAT. The first\none, Baidu, is basically the Chinese Google, Alibaba sells everything similarly\nto Amazon, while Tencent introduced the WeChat messaging app in 2011, which has\n\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.theverge.com\u002F2018\u002F2\u002F1\u002F16721230\u002Fwechat-china-app-mini-programs-messaging-electronic-id-system\">902 million daily users and about 38\nbillion messages are sent on the platform\u003C\u002Fa> every day. Technological solutions\nnot only enable Chinese citizens easier communication, shopping or banking, but\nthey spill over to healthcare, too. Three solutions especially stand out as\nshowing the way forward in the Chinese medical arena. Chatbots, artificial\nintelligence, and telemedicine. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"512\" height=\"288\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FChinese-Technological-Forte-512x288.jpg\" alt=\"digital health in China\" class=\"wp-image-23079\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FChinese-Technological-Forte-512x288.jpg 512w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FChinese-Technological-Forte-370x208.jpg 370w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FChinese-Technological-Forte-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FChinese-Technological-Forte.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption>Source: www.ft.com\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Say Hi\nto Doctor WeChat\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Although the messaging platform is often compared to Facebook, it offers much more than its Western counterpart – but comes with the baggage that the Chinese government has complete oversight over it. Of course, that also means that the central leadership lets it operate – which you cannot say about all the other, mainly Western messaging platforms: \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Ftechcrunch.com\u002F2009\u002F07\u002F07\u002Fchina-blocks-access-to-twitter-facebook-after-riots\u002F\">it has censored Facebook Messenger since 2009\u003C\u002Fa>,\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fqz.com\u002F470014\u002Fone-year-after-the-government-banned-its-chat-app-line-is-still-in-china-selling-lattes-and-tote-bags\u002F\"> blocked the South Korean-owned Line app in 2015\u003C\u002Fa>, and \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.theverge.com\u002F2017\u002F9\u002F25\u002F16362292\u002Fchina-whatsapp-censorship-wechat-no-more-texts\">banned WhatsApp last year\u003C\u002Fa>.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Thus, \u003Cstrong>WeChat\nhas an ambition and an open door to\nbecome a one-stop solution for all kinds\nof consumer needs in mainland China. Now, it is even poised to \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cstrong>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.theverge.com\u002F2018\u002F2\u002F1\u002F16721230\u002Fwechat-china-app-mini-programs-messaging-electronic-id-system\">take\non an even greater role\u003C\u002Fa>: an initiative is underway to integrate WeChat with\nChina’s electronic ID system\u003C\u002Fstrong>. WeChat will issue virtual ID cards which individuals\nwould use instead of physical\nstate-issued ID cards. Since WeChat requires users to register with their real\nnames \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.theverge.com\u002F2017\u002F8\u002F28\u002F16217602\u002Fchina-censorship-real-identities-weibo-blogging-all-content\">per\ngovernment policy\u003C\u002Fa>, it’s not a stretch to imagine\nthat one day, WeChat may entirely replace\nstate IDs – or even medical health records? The Medical Futurist imagines that \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.apple.com\u002Fhealthcare\u002Fhealth-records\u002F\">similarly to Apple\u003C\u002Fa>, the Chinese WeChat could connect patients’ complete\nmedical health records to patient’s phones. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Tencent has already been steadily building up a\nnetwork of participating hospitals – \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Ftechnode.com\u002F2018\u002F02\u002F11\u002Ftencent-medical-ecosystem\u002F\">over 38,000\nmedical facilities as of 2017\u003C\u002Fa> – where \u003Cstrong>users can book doctor’s appointments\nthrough their WeChat Intelligent Healthcare to avoid long lines at medical\nfacilities. Following their health checkup, patients can also conveniently\naccess their medical reports through WeChat and pay for their medical bills.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\nAlso, in a push for healthy living, the app’s step count function \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.sohu.com\u002Fa\u002F202312777_632979\">can be linked\u003C\u002Fa> to WeSure. \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Ftechnode.com\u002F2018\u002F02\u002F11\u002Ftencent-medical-ecosystem\u002F\">Users who reach\nover 8,000 steps in a day will receive a hongbao\u003C\u002Fa>\nfrom WeSure that can be deposited in their WeChat wallets. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>From here, it’s only one step further to give full\naccess to medical health records. And what’s even further down the line? We believe it’s chatbots! As technological\ninnovation allows it, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002Fchatbots-health-assistants\">chatbots could\ntake the burden off the shoulders of primary care physicians\u003C\u002Fa> and support the diagnosis of patients with simpler medical\nproblems. In such a resource-strained country like\nChina that could mean a viable solution. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"512\" height=\"288\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FWeChat-512x288.jpg\" alt=\"digital health in China\" class=\"wp-image-23080\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FWeChat-512x288.jpg 512w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FWeChat-370x208.jpg 370w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FWeChat-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FWeChat-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FWeChat.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption>Source: www.qz.com\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>One-Minute\nClinics and cloud hospitals\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Chatbots could only aid and not replace physicians, so they cannot completely solve the problems within Chinese primary care. But what if we couple solutions with telemedicine? Experts believe that the integration between telemedicine, online prescription sales, online scheduling of follow-up diagnostic or specialty physician appointments, and electronic medical records could be a game-changer\u003Cstrong> for China’s healthcare system. The central leadership also recognized that and \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.credit-suisse.com\u002Fmicrosites\u002Fevents\u002Fchina-investment-conference\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-can-digital-health-do-for-china.html\">has started pushing for a national telemedicine network\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fstrong>. Above all, in April 2018, the state council of the People’s Republic of China has communicated the Internet Plus Healthcare initiative, which allows medical institutions to provide online diagnostics for specific diseases and other services.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Moreover, one of China’s major insurers, \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.pingan.cn\u002Fen\u002Findex.shtml\">Ping An Insurance\u003C\u002Fa> (the name literally meaning safe and well) is already pushing for a national telemedicine network. They’re offering a simple app to order non-prescription medicine and personal care products online. Users only need to complete a quick, AI-driven questionnaire for the app to determine their health needs, after which the products will be delivered to their home or office within just an hour. Another example is SUNPA, which has built four Telemedicine centers in China in cooperation with public institutes. The network covers eight provinces and municipalities with a total population of over 200 million. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>But the Middle Kingdom is not only building networks, but also \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.tforg.com\u002Fhow-we-think\u002Fsweetspot-blog\u002F2015\u002F07\u002F13\u002Ffrom-barefoot-doctors-to-healthcare-in-the-cloud-telemedicine-opportunities-in-china-part-2\u002F\">cloud-based hospitals\u003C\u002Fa>. The first one was launched four years ago in Ningbo. The hospital is equipped with cutting-edge cloud technology and connects 100 primary care institutions, 226 specialists and care providers. It also installed four cloud-based “Diagnostic Rooms” for hypertension, diabetes, psychological consultation, and primary care, enabling patients to access these services from the comfort of their home.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>And as the latest example already combining artificial intelligence and telemedicine, last year, Ping An’s Good Doctor project, a one-stop healthcare ecosystem platform, \u003Ca rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.mobihealthnews.com\u002Fcontent\u002Fping-good-doctor-showcases-ai-powered-unstaffed-clinics\" target=\"_blank\">piloted unstaffed clinics\u003C\u002Fa> that employ \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.mobihealthnews.com\u002Fcontent\u002Fping-good-doctor-launches-commercial-operation-one-minute-clinics-china\">artificial intelligence called “One-minute Clinics” near Shanghai\u003C\u002Fa>, which connect patients with a clinician on Ping An Good Doctor’s in-house medical team. In January, the company announced that it had placed its One-minute Clinics across 8 provinces and cities in China and signed service contracts for nearly 1,000 units, providing healthcare services to more than 3 million users.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003Cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FPing-An-Good-Doctor-Health-App-512x340.jpg\" alt=\"digital health in China\" class=\"wp-image-23081\"\u002F>\u003Cfigcaption>Source: www.financeasia.com\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Building the artificial\nintelligence … paradise?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Of course, the ultimate tool in the Chinese government’s pocket is artificial intelligence, the potential game-changer in healthcare (just as in almost every other industry). As we could see, China is poised to become the undisputed global leader in technology – apparently, with A.I. in the lead. \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fasia.nikkei.com\u002FBusiness\u002FTechnology\u002FAsian-tech-execs-voice-hopes-and-fears-for-AI-in-Davos\">Amy Webb, adjunct assistant professor at New York University, pointed out\u003C\u002Fa> in Davos that only nine companies control the future of A.I. – six American ones (Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, IBM, Apple, and Facebook) and the Chinese BAT. The latter \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.technologyreview.com\u002Fs\u002F612813\u002Fthe-future-of-chinas-ai-industry-is-in-the-hands-of-just-three-companies\u002F?utm_campaign=the_download.unpaid.engagement&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=69225908&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9lFlT7jHKSHxp-4hw_ua0hQhhUlkx-Ha0ucl7HF9tXnDLXGlTCax4znd-bivPkGE8wn_5lVZn1OojnP8cK9kV8gsUdHg&_hsmi=69225908\">three companies also invest in 53 percent of the nation’s 190 major A.I. companies\u003C\u002Fa>. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>The industry started to skyrocket mainly due to three factors: an abundance of data, plenty of financial resources and lax views on privacy. There’s no question about the first and the second in the country of 1.3 billion, but how could the Chinese shrug off privacy so easily? In a country where collectivism traditionally has more value over individualism, most of the people seem to have put up with the fact that the central leadership has oversight on their lives\u003C\u002Fstrong> – even in the most intrusive ways – and trust is replaced by technology. Remember the \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fwatch?v=_Z2F86v0-YE\">Chinese social credit system\u003C\u002Fa>? When you walk on the streets of Shanghai or Beijing, you are watched over by thousands of CCTV cameras. If you are jaywalking on the road, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fwatch?v=ydPqKhgh9Mg\">you can get a fine to your WeChat app in seconds\u003C\u002Fa>. On the other hand, cameras and smart algorithms constantly analyzing footage promise a particular type of security and order. Aims that also fall in line with the Chinese government’s goals. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Thus, these three factors make China an A.I.\nparadise with more projects than there are grains of sand on the world’s\nbeaches. Of course, healthcare is a big chunk of it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"512\" height=\"288\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FChinese-AI-Doctor-512x288.jpg\" alt=\"digital health in China\" class=\"wp-image-23082\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FChinese-AI-Doctor-512x288.jpg 512w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FChinese-AI-Doctor-370x208.jpg 370w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FChinese-AI-Doctor-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FChinese-AI-Doctor-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FChinese-AI-Doctor.jpg 1600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption>Source: www.quartz.com\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Tencent’s medical A.I. and robots learning how to doctor\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>There’s no question about \u003Cstrong>the need for A.I. in China to help solve\nthe shortage of medical staff and improve the accuracy\nof average outcomes. Deep learning algorithms trained through the data of billions can analyze medical outputs like CT\nand MRI images with a close to 100% accuracy. An A.I. like that might even\nsolve how to cure diseases like cancer, or Alzheimer’s in the future. This promise\nhas led to the fact that \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cstrong>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.credit-suisse.com\u002Fmicrosites\u002Fevents\u002Fchina-investment-conference\u002Fen\u002Fblog\u002Fwhat-can-digital-health-do-for-china.html\">over\n130 companies are working on projects on how to apply A.I. in China’s\nhealthcare sector\u003C\u002Fa>. \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>For example, in November 2017, the Chinese\ngovernment announced \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Ftechnode.com\u002F2018\u002F02\u002F11\u002Ftencent-medical-ecosystem\u002F\">plans to\nbuild national A.I. innovation platforms with four partnering companies\u003C\u002Fa>. Tencent is one of them. The company established the A.I.\nMedical Innovation System or \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Faiyixue.qq.com\u002Fofficial\u002F\">AIMIS\u003C\u002Fa>, an A.I.-powered diagnostic medical imaging service – so\nfar in over 10 hospitals across the country. The method works as the following:\n\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fdisruptionhub.com\u002Ftencent-enters-healthcare-in-china\u002F\">images\nof patient tissue are fed into the A.I. software\u003C\u002Fa>,\nwhich can then determine in under four seconds whether the body looks normal, inflamed or cancerous. AIMIS currently offers\n90 percent accuracy for diagnoses of\nesophageal cancer, 95 percent for lung\nsarcoidosis and 97 percent for diabetic\nretinopathy. Such technological aids are a massive\nhelp to overworked doctors in providing patients with correct diagnoses.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Another spectacular example of the capabilities\nof A.I. was when in 2017, \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.zmescience.com\u002Fscience\u002Fchina-ai-doctor-xiaoyi\u002F\">a robot named\nXiaoyi\u003C\u002Fa> (meaning little doctor) passed the written\nstage of China’s national medical licensing examination. During the “learning\nperiod”, it sifted through dozens of\nmedical textbooks, more than 2 million medical records, and 400,000 articles in\na bid to learn how to ‘doctor’. In the\nend, Xiaoyi pulled off \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.scmp.com\u002Fbusiness\u002Fcompanies\u002Farticle\u002F2119202\u002Fai-robot-developed-shenzhen-listed-tech-major-aces-chinas\">a\nstunning 456 points\u003C\u002Fa> – 96 points above a passing\ngrade. The score is believed to be a testament to the robot’s ability to learn,\nreason, and make judgments by itself. Its creators think that it could capture\nand analyze patient information and help make an initial diagnosis. Thus, it doesn’t aim to replace doctors – only\nto lift the burden off the shoulders of physicians. \u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"512\" height=\"288\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FChinese-Robot-Doctor-512x288.jpg\" alt=\"digital health in China\" class=\"wp-image-23083\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FChinese-Robot-Doctor-512x288.jpg 512w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FChinese-Robot-Doctor-370x208.jpg 370w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FChinese-Robot-Doctor-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FChinese-Robot-Doctor.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 512px) 100vw, 512px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption>Source: www.elperiodico.com\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Where\ndo you go, dear China?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>As you can see, \u003Cstrong>China has slowly, but strategically built up their system over the past twenty years, to be an absolute technological superpower of the future. The only question is, how they are going to use it. What are they going to do with all this data, and how are they going to leverage their state-of-the-art A.I. systems? Are they going to keep going down the road that started with the social credit system? Are they going to build a healthcare dystopia, where they can use people’s health against them? Or are they going to turn it into the service of a greater good?\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>It is incredible how Janus-faced China is: on\nthe one hand, we could think about the country as a “developer’s paradise” as\nthe strong governmental boost allows every digital health innovation to be\ntested and implemented upon success. There’s even very little resistance as the\nhealthcare system is an entirely\nstate-funded, public system and even data privacy concerns are very low. So, in\na technical sense, they could develop solutions about which Western companies\nand countries are only dreaming.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>However, the other side of the\nstory is that due to not involving stakeholders of healthcare into the\ndecision-making processes and building up the ecosystem, they can bring into\neffect even the most dreadful, Black Mirror-like dystopias. Systems that abuse\nthe health of individuals when the interest of the central leadership requires\nit, a credit system that not only awards\u002Fpunishes social performance through\nfines but also through access to health services, and infrastructure that\npunishes unhealthy behavior or genetic risks.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The odds are high, and the world is watching argus-eyed. What do you choose, dear China? The red or the blue pill?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ctable style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #eee; border-top: 4px solid #444;\" cellpadding=\"10px\">\n\u003Ctbody>\n\u003Ctr>\n\u003Ctd style=\"width: 100%;\">\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>At The Medical Futurist, we are building a community for making a bold vision about the future of healthcare reality today.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fembed\u002FFIbMejImnxs\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\">\u003C\u002Fiframe>\n\u003Cp>If you’d like to support this mission, we invite you to \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.patreon.com\u002Fthemedicalfuturist\">join The Medical Futurist Patreon Community\u003C\u002Fa>. A community of empowered patients, future-oriented healthcare professionals, concerned health policymakers, sensible health tech developers, and enthusiastic medical students. If there were ever a time to join us, it is now. Every contribution, however big or small, powers our research and sustains our future.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.patreon.com\u002Fthemedicalfuturist\">\u003Cstrong style=\"background-color: #e71d3299; color: #000;\">Click here to support The Medical Futurist from as little as $3\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fa> – it only takes a minute. Thank you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Ftd>\n\u003C\u002Ftr>\n\u003C\u002Ftbody>\n\u003C\u002Ftable>\n\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\n",false,{"rendered":22,"protected":20},"\u003Cp>How could a country keep around 1.4 billion people healthy when the system struggles with corruption, lack of resources and an aging population? China, the emerging giant with a strong central leadership fostering technology and innovation, places its bets on artificial intelligence, telemedicine, cloud-based hospitals, and WeChat. While that could sound like an ultimate technological paradise, the question is, what are they going to do with the vast amount of data or to what interests are they going to leverage their state of the art A.I. systems? Generally, how will we speak about digital health in China: a healthcare dystopia or a system in the service of the greater good?\u003C\u002Fp>\n",6,23088,"closed",true,"","standard",{"_acf_changed":20,"footnotes":27},[31,32,33],504,511,521,[35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46,47,48,49],1239,275,289,406,425,134,144,168,206,637,207,723,246,826,271,[],[],[53,54,55,56,57,58,59,60,61,62,63,64],4763,1571,5477,1661,1683,1707,1715,1723,1883,2651,2919,3143,[66,14,67,68,69,70,71,72,73,74,75,76,77,78,79,80,81,82,83,84,85,86,87,88,89],"post-23075","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artificial-intelligence","category-bioethics","category-future-medicine","tag-china","tag-healthcare","tag-innovation","tag-smartphone","tag-technology-2","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-chatbot","tag-digital","tag-telehealth","tag-digital-health","tag-telemedicine","tag-future","tag-policy","tag-health",{"id":24,"alt_text":91,"caption":27,"description":27,"media_type":92,"media_details":93,"post":5,"source_url":138},"China and digital health","image",{"width":94,"height":95,"file":96,"sizes":97,"image_meta":135},1920,1080,"2019\u002F02\u002FPastedGraphic-2.png",{"medium":98,"large":104,"thumbnail":109,"medium_large":113,"1536x1536":114,"large_old_512x288":119,"thumbnail_old_150x150":124,"medium_old_370x208":126,"medium_large_old_768x432":129,"large_old_512x288_old_512x288":132},{"file":99,"width":100,"height":101,"mime-type":102,"source_url":103},"PastedGraphic-2-370x208.png",370,208,"image\u002Fpng","https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FPastedGraphic-2-370x208.png",{"file":105,"width":106,"height":107,"mime-type":102,"source_url":108},"PastedGraphic-2-768x432.png",768,432,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FPastedGraphic-2-768x432.png",{"file":110,"width":111,"height":111,"mime-type":102,"source_url":112},"PastedGraphic-2-150x150.png",150,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FPastedGraphic-2-150x150.png",{"file":105,"width":106,"height":107,"mime-type":102,"source_url":108},{"file":115,"width":116,"height":117,"mime-type":102,"source_url":118},"PastedGraphic-2-1536x864.png",1536,864,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FPastedGraphic-2-1536x864.png",{"file":120,"width":121,"height":122,"mime-type":102,"source_url":123},"PastedGraphic-2-512x288.png",512,288,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FPastedGraphic-2-512x288.png",{"file":110,"width":125,"height":125,"mime-type":102,"source_url":112},"150",{"file":99,"width":127,"height":128,"mime-type":102,"source_url":103},"370","208",{"file":105,"width":130,"height":131,"mime-type":102,"source_url":108},"768","432",{"file":120,"width":133,"height":134,"mime-type":102,"source_url":123},"512","288",{"aperture":136,"credit":27,"camera":27,"caption":27,"created_timestamp":136,"copyright":27,"focal_length":136,"iso":136,"shutter_speed":136,"title":27,"orientation":136,"keywords":137},"0",[],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2019\u002F02\u002FPastedGraphic-2.png",{"related_posts":140,"related_posts_footer":144,"cta_type":27,"cta_color":27,"subtitle":27,"related_books":20},[141,142,143],17293,20686,13650,[145,146,147],23021,20658,21678,{"yoast_wpseo_title":149,"yoast_wpseo_metadesc":150,"yoast_wpseo_canonical":15},"China Is Building The Ultimate Digital Health Paradise. Or Is It?","The Medical Futurist went after how we will speak about digital health in China: a healthcare dystopia or a system for the greater good. Check it out!",{"self":152,"collection":158,"about":161,"author":164,"replies":167,"version-history":170,"predecessor-version":174,"wp:featuredmedia":178,"wp:attachment":181,"wp:term":184,"curies":200},[153],{"href":154,"targetHints":155},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fposts\u002F23075",{"allow":156},[157],"GET",[159],{"href":160},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fposts",[162],{"href":163},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Ftypes\u002Fpost",[165],{"embeddable":26,"href":166},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fusers\u002F6",[168],{"embeddable":26,"href":169},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fcomments?post=23075",[171],{"count":172,"href":173},12,"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fposts\u002F23075\u002Frevisions",[175],{"id":176,"href":177},46401,"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fposts\u002F23075\u002Frevisions\u002F46401",[179],{"embeddable":26,"href":180},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fmedia\u002F23088",[182],{"href":183},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fmedia?parent=23075",[185,188,191,194,197],{"taxonomy":186,"embeddable":26,"href":187},"category","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fcategories?post=23075",{"taxonomy":189,"embeddable":26,"href":190},"post_tag","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Ftags?post=23075",{"taxonomy":192,"embeddable":26,"href":193},"project_category","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fproject_category?post=23075",{"taxonomy":195,"embeddable":26,"href":196},"contact_email_category","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fcontact_email_category?post=23075",{"taxonomy":198,"embeddable":26,"href":199},"yst_prominent_words","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fyst_prominent_words?post=23075",[201],{"name":202,"href":203,"templated":26},"wp","https:\u002F\u002Fapi.w.org\u002F{rel}",[205],{"id":147,"date":206,"date_gmt":207,"guid":208,"modified":210,"modified_gmt":211,"slug":212,"status":13,"type":14,"link":213,"title":214,"content":216,"excerpt":218,"author":23,"featured_media":220,"comment_status":25,"ping_status":25,"sticky":26,"template":27,"format":28,"meta":221,"categories":222,"tags":224,"project_category":234,"contact_email_category":236,"yst_prominent_words":237,"class_list":241,"better_featured_image":254,"acf":287,"yoast_meta":295,"_links":298},"2018-08-29T07:00:56","2018-08-29T05:00:56",{"rendered":209},"http:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002F","2022-03-08T14:11:01","2022-03-08T13:11:01","digital-health-in-rwanda","https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002Fdigital-health-in-rwanda",{"rendered":215},"Rwanda And The Dreamers Of Digital Health in Africa: Wakanda Is Real",{"rendered":217,"protected":20},"\n\u003Ctable style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #eee; border-top: 4px solid #444;\" cellpadding=\"5px\">\n\u003Ctbody>\n\u003Ctr>\n\u003Ctd style=\"width: 100%;\">\n\u003Cp style=\"color: #555;font-size: 12px;line-height: 14px\">THIS ARTICLE HAS NOT BEEN UPDATED SINCE 2018. THE INFORMATION SHARED IN THE ARTICLE WAS ACCURATE AT THE TIME OF ITS PUBLICATION, BUT IT MAY BE OUT OF DATE NOW. \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002Fmagazine\">BROWSE OUR LATEST ARTICLES HERE\u003C\u002Fa>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Ftd>\n\u003C\u002Ftr>\u003C\u002Ftbody>\u003C\u002Ftable>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Rwandans in remote villages are using an artificial intelligence-based algorithm on their mobile phones to get a diagnosis for their health problems, doctors in Kigali consult their colleagues in the Western Province about radiology cases through telemedicine, blood is delivered by Zipline’s medical drones, and a central electronic health records system ensures data is collected about health activities. Rwanda is a pioneer in digital health in Africa – a real Afrofuturistic embodiment of \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.imdb.com\u002Ftitle\u002Ftt1825683\u002F?ref_=nv_sr_1\">Black Panther\u003C\u002Fa>‘s Wakanda. Let’s see how and why that happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003C!--more-->\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Wakanda gets real in Rwanda\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Black Panther’s Wakanda with its gorgeous African landscapes, fierce waterfalls, peoples living in harmony and technological absoluteness represents a mighty utopian endpoint for many countries. How does healing look like in a high-tech paradise like Wakanda? When CIA agent Everett Ross was shot in the spine by one of the main villains, Klaue, the Wakandan team brought him back to the country after stabilizing him on the spot. In the tech lab, Shuri, sister of the king uses virtual reality coupled with rapid diagnostic imaging to diagnose Ross. He wakes up 24 hours later, and his wounds are healed. We can see how he stands up from a bed, where all medical data is contained around his head, and his state is constantly monitored.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>While the Rwandan economy isn’t based on the superstrong and powerful material, the vibranium, the technological advancement, especially in the area of creating a digital society backed up with digital health, sets it apart from its environment. Artificial intelligence, telemedicine, medical drones, health apps, and mobile solutions are bringing the country to the 21st century. And just as in Wakanda, they are combining high-tech with traditions. Let’s see in details, how it happens.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003Cfigure class=\"aligncenter\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"363\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FWakanda_Medical_Center_3-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21708\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FWakanda_Medical_Center_3-1.png 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FWakanda_Medical_Center_3-1-768x320.png 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FWakanda_Medical_Center_3-1-512x213.png 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>From community-based health insurance through broadband to digital health\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>After the devastating genocide 24 years ago, the Rwandans had to completely rebuild the entire country, including their healthcare system. The government has contributed immensely to this development; for example, expenditures on healthcare have increased from 3.2 percent in 1998 to 9.7 percent in 2008, and it did not stop there. \u003Cstrong>Major healthcare reforms have gone down throughout the years – starting from introducing the mandatory health insurance scheme from 2008 on. Ten years later, more than 90 percent of the population was already covered by community-based health insurance schemes.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>But that was just the beginning. Step by step, in line with the rapid technological development around the globe, Rwanda embraced digital technology on every level. Dr. Zuberi Muvunyi, Director General in the Clinical and Public Health Services Department, told The Medical Futurist that “\u003Cem>the Rwandan government has made smart health as one of the pillars of their information and communication technology (ICT) policy. ICT was really something that the government has put in front in general for the development of this country\u003C\u002Fem>.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cdiv class=\"wp-block-image\">\u003Cfigure class=\"aligncenter\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"489\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FCog369EUAAAxd0l.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-21700\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FCog369EUAAAxd0l.jpg 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FCog369EUAAAxd0l-370x208.jpg 370w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FCog369EUAAAxd0l-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FCog369EUAAAxd0l-512x288.jpg 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\u003C\u002Fdiv>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>The backbone of the digital society: broadband, cables, and phones\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Similar to \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fmedicalfuturist.com\u002Fwhat-the-hell-is-blockchain-what-does-it-mean-for-healthcare-and-pharma\">the Baltic country, Estonia\u003C\u002Fa>, Rwanda has aimed for digitalizing the nation in many areas. As a country with 12 million people and no significant natural resources, the leadership recognized that the service sector could mean the potential development path for Rwanda. They also identified the massive promise in the ICT sector very early.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>It all started with cables and broadband. The government \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.dr-hempel-network.com\u002Fhealth-policies-in-india\u002Fdigital-health-sector-in-rwanda\u002F\">already invested a hundred million dollars in building a bandwidth or fiber network infrastructure\u003C\u002Fa> over a 2,796-mile vast land. Dr. Zuberi says that \u003Cstrong>90 percent of the entire country is covered by 4G. Some are using even 5G, while fiber optic cables are covering almost the whole country.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>The mobile phone penetration is 75 percent, and smartphone penetration started to skyrocket in the last months\u003C\u002Fstrong>. “\u003Cem>When I first went to Rwanda two and a half years ago, every mobile phone shop had feature phones, and smartphones were on the bottom shelf. Now, what’s happening is every shelf is smartphones except for the bottom shelf because new and cheap handsets are flooding into African countries from places like China\u003C\u002Fem>”, explained Tracey McNeill, Chief Mobilisation Officer at \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.babylonhealth.com\u002F\">Babylon Health\u003C\u002Fa>, who has been CEO of babyl Rwanda and worked in the country for almost three years to establish their feature phone-based health service.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full wp-image-21682\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"869\" height=\"544\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FSub-Saharan-Africa-Is-The-Worlds-Fastest-Growing-Mobile-Market-1.jpg\" alt=\"digital health in Africa\" class=\"wp-image-21682\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FSub-Saharan-Africa-Is-The-Worlds-Fastest-Growing-Mobile-Market-1.jpg 869w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FSub-Saharan-Africa-Is-The-Worlds-Fastest-Growing-Mobile-Market-1-768x481.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FSub-Saharan-Africa-Is-The-Worlds-Fastest-Growing-Mobile-Market-1-512x321.jpg 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 869px) 100vw, 869px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption>Sub-Saharan Africa Is The Worlds Fastest Growing Mobile Market. Source: www.afridigest.com\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>A principal\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cstrong> factor of success: the digitally-savvy government\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>McNeill and Muvunyi both emphasized the decisive role that the government is playing in transforming the country apace towards a digital society – and shifting the entire healthcare system towards digital health. A great example was when Agnes Binagwaho, former Minister of Health held discussions on Twitter about the healthcare state of Rwanda using the #MinisterMondays hashtag.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>“\u003Cstrong>\u003Cem>What amazes me about countries like Rwanda is that they have strong, focused leadership and the government really wants to improve the lives of the average Rwandan\u003C\u002Fem>,\u003C\u002Fstrong>” noted McNeill. She also believes that for the sustainability of digital products such as babyl, it is essential to understand how it’s going to be paid for in advance – \u003Cem>and in most African countries, it’s either paid for by the patient in pocket expenses or by the government\u003C\u002Fem>, she said. Thus, the government could signify kind of a safety guard, while the general health insurance scheme means a basis for further development.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Muvunyi explained that \u003Cstrong>Kigali was careful enough to make the digital transformation a step-by-step process in every area.\u003C\u002Fstrong> After having \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.biometricupdate.com\u002F201605\u002Frwanda-to-introduce-new-eid-card\">introduced the electronic ID in 2016\u003C\u002Fa>, and the electronic passport this year, the healthcare sector was not to stay behind. At first, Rwanda introduced electronic health records for HIV services in partnership with intergovernmental organizations, WHO, Global Fund, OCDC or the US Government. Then they expanded the EHR system to manage financial aspects, registration, consultation, clinical records, etc.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Currently, they are using an e-LMIS for the management of medical supplies, lab management systems for logistics in laboratories and a rapid SMS system. Using the latter, the approximately \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fhuman-resources-health.biomedcentral.com\u002Farticles\u002F10.1186\u002F1478-4491-12-71\">60,000 community health workers in the country\u003C\u002Fa> can report about any emergency to the Health Ministry in a short time. Muvunyi noted that \u003Cstrong>right now, they are integrating all the various systems together, and approximately within the next ten years, the Rwandan medical landscape will be completely transformed with a strong focus on digital health.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full wp-image-21683\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"483\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FCommunity-Health-Workers-in-Rwanda.jpg\" alt=\"digital health in Africa\" class=\"wp-image-21683\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FCommunity-Health-Workers-in-Rwanda.jpg 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FCommunity-Health-Workers-in-Rwanda-768x427.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FCommunity-Health-Workers-in-Rwanda-512x284.jpg 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption>Source: www.millionssaved.cgdev.org\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Key\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003Cstrong> to innovation: partnerships and no overregulation\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Not only the step-by-step process, but \u003Cstrong>collaborations have also played a pivotal role in shaping the healthcare system in the African country. These collaborations do not just mean joint work with governments, NGOs or IGOs as mentioned before but also with companies such as Zipline or babyl.\u003C\u002Fstrong> “\u003Cem>Rwanda approached us: when we launched Babylon Health in the UK, the Rwandan ambassador to the UK came to our event and said this is exactly what we need in Rwanda. So he invited us to go to Rwanda and meet the Ministry of Health. And then the Ministry of ICT called us, and we decided in partnership with the government to set up our network in the country\u003C\u002Fem>”, explained McNeill. Currently, the feature-phone based health service has over 2 million users, and they have done 200,000 consultations for just under two years.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Also in 2016, \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fmoney.cnn.com\u002F2016\u002F10\u002F13\u002Ftechnology\u002Frwanda-drone-hospital\u002F\">the Rwandan government teamed up with Zipline, a medical drone manufacturing company\u003C\u002Fa> to deliver medical supplies to five of its hospitals. The American start-up appeared earlier on the African market than in the US – as the government supported it and looser regulations allowed it. It was only after its Rwandan success that \u003Ca href=\"http:\u002F\u002Fwww.theverge.com\u002F2016\u002F8\u002F2\u002F12350274\u002Fzipline-drone-delivery-us-launch-blood-medicine\">the White House reached out to Zipline\u003C\u002Fa> expressing interest in delivering medicine and blood to rural parts of the US. When The Medical Futurist asked Justin Hamilton, Zipline’s spokesperson, why the start-up first choose Rwanda, he mentioned two factors: “\u003Cem>On one hand due to the high medical needs, on the other hand, due to the low complexity of navigating the airspace – it is much less crowded and regulated as in the US\u003C\u002Fem>. “\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full wp-image-21680\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"574\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FZipline-Drones-To-Deliver-Blood-in-Rwanda.jpg\" alt=\"digital health in Africa\" class=\"wp-image-21680\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FZipline-Drones-To-Deliver-Blood-in-Rwanda.jpg 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FZipline-Drones-To-Deliver-Blood-in-Rwanda-768x507.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FZipline-Drones-To-Deliver-Blood-in-Rwanda-512x338.jpg 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption>Source: www.time.com\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Jointly shaped rules and easy start for businesses: a recipe for success \u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>However, the lack of regulation can also pose challenges for companies eager to enter the Rwandan market. McNeill said that one of the biggest challenges for Babylon Health in the African country was working with the government because “\u003Cem>there was no regulatory framework and no standards for digital healthcare\u003C\u002Fem>.” As a result, they worked very closely with the Ministry of Health, and they developed the regulatory framework and standards together for a successful operation in Rwanda.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>In spite of the challenges, \u003Cstrong>entrepreneurs and start-ups are flocking to Rwanda, so it is clear that they can get out benefits from co-shaped regulations. Muvunyi said that companies from India, Japan, Korea, so mainly Asians are knocking on Rwanda’s doors\u003C\u002Fstrong> – Europeans rarely do that, although the director general would welcome them, too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>It is far from rocket science to launch a business venture in Rwanda. Foreign nationals can easily obtain an entrepreneur visa for tech start-ups in a short time span, at no cost and online. More so, Rwanda is secure, and the corruption level is almost non-existent. In case of a healthcare company, the Rwandan Development Board is responsible for explaining the requirements, then companies have to state their compliance with the Rwanda Utility Regulatory Authority, then register at the Ministry of Health. As everything could be done online, it shortens the process and lowers the costs as well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full wp-image-21684\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"489\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FBabyl-Health-in-Rwanda.jpg\" alt=\"digital health in Africa\" class=\"wp-image-21684\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FBabyl-Health-in-Rwanda.jpg 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FBabyl-Health-in-Rwanda-370x208.jpg 370w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FBabyl-Health-in-Rwanda-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FBabyl-Health-in-Rwanda-512x288.jpg 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption>babyl A.I. being demonstrated to The Minister of Health Dr. Diane Gashumba at the babyl office. Source: twitter.com\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>Fight against doctor shortages: phone-based platform, telemedicine, drones\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>That’s the best recipe for attracting businesses: making it easy and smooth for innovative start-ups to operate. In countries like Rwanda, you genuinely need that when you have to fight against shortages of medical professionals and diseases such as malaria, HIV, respiratory infections or Hepatitis B and C.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Muvunyi mentioned that \u003Cstrong>they only have “\u003Cem>one doctor for more than 10,000 that is way above WHO recommendations. For nurses, maybe we have one nurse for 5,000, while the WHO recommendation is one for 3,000\u003C\u002Fem>.” He believes that telehealth solutions, phone-based platforms such as babyl, and medical drones mean a viable solution\u003C\u002Fstrong>.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>And not only are these companies present in the country, but they are also expanding and innovating with the full support of the Rwandan government. Zipline is deploying its second launching site, while babyl is working on its artificial intelligence solution for tablets used by community health workers. McNeill explained that they started to use A.I. in their call center as a method for triaging patients, while their final goal is to „\u003Cem>put an artificial intelligence doctor’s brain into the hands of community-based health workers\u003C\u002Fem>.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Meanwhile, telemedicine became a daily routine for doctors in Rwanda. Muvuny proudly explained how someone in the provincial hospital in the Western Province of Rwanda could send a CT scan to a hospital in Kigali, and in 5 minutes, could have a report back. Through videoconferences or online consultations, they can decide whether they operate the patient, if they put in more medical treatment, and so on.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>The government has also \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.theguardian.com\u002Fglobal-development\u002F2018\u002Fjan\u002F31\u002Frwanda-becomes-first-poor-country-to-provide-eye-care-for-all\">partnered with the organization Vision for a Nation (VFAN) to train more than 3,000 eye care nurses\u003C\u002Fa> based in 502 local health centers, prescribing glasses and referring those with serious eye problems to public clinics. Nurses have visited each of Rwanda’s 15,000 villages.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cfigure class=\"wp-block-image alignnone size-full wp-image-21685\">\u003Cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"870\" height=\"579\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002F1712507217.rsc.cdn77.org\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FNurses-Learning-E-Skills.jpg\" alt=\"digital health in Africa\" class=\"wp-image-21685\" srcset=\"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FNurses-Learning-E-Skills.jpg 870w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FNurses-Learning-E-Skills-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002FNurses-Learning-E-Skills-512x340.jpg 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 870px) 100vw, 870px\" \u002F>\u003Cfigcaption>Source: www.ideas4development.org\u003C\u002Ffigcaption>\u003C\u002Ffigure>\n\n\n\n\u003Ch2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u003Cstrong>John Lennon and Rwanda as a beacon of digital health\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fh2>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>Muvunyi mentioned that countries from around the world are interested in the Rwandan experience. \u003Cstrong>Delegations from the Middle East, from Latin America or from other African nations come to Kigali and discuss best practices\u003C\u002Fstrong> and how to implement solutions in their own countries.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>Regarding the region, Kenya is particularly intrigued\u003C\u002Fstrong>. McNeill said that Babylon Health is also looking at the country as well as Nigeria, and they hope to roll out their services next year. “\u003Cem>Kenya is perfect timing for us at the moment because the government that was reelected has made healthcare one of the four key pillars of the next four years regarding an essential area for growth and investment\u003C\u002Fem>,” added McNeill.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>And what about the future of Rwanda? Muvunyi says that in two years, they plan to perform minimally invasive surgeries using artificial intelligence and robots in some hospitals. When looking further down the road, he sees a wholly transformed medical system within ten years. He said he likes to describe the situation with John Lennon’s song, Imagine.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Cp>“\u003Cem>\u003Cstrong>Some people think that we are dreamers, but we are no longer dreamers, we are living it now with babyl, Zipline, and many other initiatives.\u003C\u002Fstrong> \u003Cstrong>We hope that many will join us to form a bigger community of dreamers in digital health\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fem>\u003Cstrong>”, \u003C\u002Fstrong>he added.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\n\n\n\u003Ctable style=\"width: 100%; border-collapse: collapse; background-color: #eee; border-top: 4px solid #444;\" cellpadding=\"10px\">\n\u003Ctbody>\n\u003Ctr>\n\u003Ctd style=\"width: 100%;\">\n\u003Cp>\u003Cstrong>At The Medical Futurist, we are building a community for making a bold vision about the future of healthcare reality today.\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Ciframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.youtube.com\u002Fembed\u002FFIbMejImnxs\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\">\u003C\u002Fiframe>\n\u003Cp>If you’d like to support this mission, we invite you to \u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.patreon.com\u002Fthemedicalfuturist\">join The Medical Futurist Patreon Community\u003C\u002Fa>. A community of empowered patients, future-oriented healthcare professionals, concerned health policymakers, sensible health tech developers, and enthusiastic medical students. If there were ever a time to join us, it is now. Every contribution, however big or small, powers our research and sustains our future.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>\u003Ca href=\"https:\u002F\u002Fwww.patreon.com\u002Fthemedicalfuturist\">\u003Cstrong style=\"background-color: #e71d3299; color: #000;\">Click here to support The Medical Futurist from as little as $3\u003C\u002Fstrong>\u003C\u002Fa> – it only takes a minute. Thank you.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003C\u002Ftd>\n\u003C\u002Ftr>\n\u003C\u002Ftbody>\n\u003C\u002Ftable>\n\u003Cp> \u003C\u002Fp>\n",{"rendered":219,"protected":20},"\u003Cp>Rwandans in remote villages are using an artificial intelligence-based algorithm on their mobile phones to get a diagnosis for their health problems, doctors in Kigali consult their colleagues in the Western Province about radiology cases through telemedicine, blood is delivered by Zipline’s medical drones, and a central electronic health records system ensures data is collected about health activities. Rwanda is a pioneer in digital health in Africa – a real Afrofuturistic embodiment of Black Panther’s Wakanda. Let’s see how and why that happened.\u003C\u002Fp>\n",21698,{"_acf_changed":20,"footnotes":27},[33,223],800,[225,41,46,42,45,226,36,227,228,229,230,38,231,232,233,40],648,869,323,1028,324,1029,1030,526,614,[235],952,[],[58,59,60,61,238,64,54,239,240],2987,1617,1681,[242,14,67,68,69,70,71,74,243,244,81,86,82,85,245,76,246,247,248,249,78,250,251,252,80,253],"post-21678","category-healthcare-policy","tag-government","tag-regulation","tag-mobile-app","tag-rwanda","tag-mobile-health","tag-development","tag-medical-drone","tag-africa","tag-drones","project_category-policy-makers",{"id":220,"alt_text":255,"caption":27,"description":27,"media_type":92,"media_details":256,"post":147,"source_url":286},"Wakanda",{"width":257,"height":258,"file":259,"sizes":260,"image_meta":284},870,362,"2018\u002F08\u002F1_BIBhXSnnVXXPnlrb10h8Ng.png",{"medium":261,"large":264,"thumbnail":268,"medium_large":271,"large_old_512x213":272,"thumbnail_old_150x150":276,"medium_old_370x208":277,"medium_large_old_768x319":278,"large_old_512x213_old_512x213":282},{"file":262,"width":100,"height":101,"mime-type":102,"source_url":263},"1_BIBhXSnnVXXPnlrb10h8Ng-370x208.png","https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002F1_BIBhXSnnVXXPnlrb10h8Ng-370x208.png",{"file":265,"width":106,"height":266,"mime-type":102,"source_url":267},"1_BIBhXSnnVXXPnlrb10h8Ng-768x320.png",320,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002F1_BIBhXSnnVXXPnlrb10h8Ng-768x320.png",{"file":269,"width":111,"height":111,"mime-type":102,"source_url":270},"1_BIBhXSnnVXXPnlrb10h8Ng-150x150.png","https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002F1_BIBhXSnnVXXPnlrb10h8Ng-150x150.png",{"file":265,"width":106,"height":266,"mime-type":102,"source_url":267},{"file":273,"width":121,"height":274,"mime-type":102,"source_url":275},"1_BIBhXSnnVXXPnlrb10h8Ng-512x213.png",213,"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002F1_BIBhXSnnVXXPnlrb10h8Ng-512x213.png",{"file":269,"width":125,"height":125,"mime-type":102,"source_url":270},{"file":262,"width":127,"height":128,"mime-type":102,"source_url":263},{"file":279,"width":130,"height":280,"mime-type":102,"source_url":281},"1_BIBhXSnnVXXPnlrb10h8Ng-768x319.png","319","https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002F1_BIBhXSnnVXXPnlrb10h8Ng-768x319.png",{"file":273,"width":133,"height":283,"mime-type":102,"source_url":275},"213",{"aperture":136,"credit":27,"camera":27,"caption":27,"created_timestamp":136,"copyright":27,"focal_length":136,"iso":136,"shutter_speed":136,"title":27,"orientation":136,"keywords":285},[],"https:\u002F\u002Fcdn.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-content\u002Fuploads\u002F2018\u002F08\u002F1_BIBhXSnnVXXPnlrb10h8Ng.png",{"related_posts":288,"related_posts_footer":291,"cta_type":27,"cta_color":27,"subtitle":27,"related_books":20},[146,289,290],21665,13395,[292,293,294],16189,15467,14723,{"yoast_wpseo_title":296,"yoast_wpseo_metadesc":297,"yoast_wpseo_canonical":213},"Wakanda Is Real: Digital Health In Africa - The Medical Futurist","Rwanda is a pioneer in digital health in Africa. The Medical Futurist explains in its analysis how and why that happened.",{"self":299,"collection":304,"about":306,"author":308,"replies":310,"version-history":313,"predecessor-version":317,"wp:featuredmedia":321,"wp:attachment":324,"wp:term":327,"curies":338},[300],{"href":301,"targetHints":302},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fposts\u002F21678",{"allow":303},[157],[305],{"href":160},[307],{"href":163},[309],{"embeddable":26,"href":166},[311],{"embeddable":26,"href":312},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fcomments?post=21678",[314],{"count":315,"href":316},25,"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fposts\u002F21678\u002Frevisions",[318],{"id":319,"href":320},40415,"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fposts\u002F21678\u002Frevisions\u002F40415",[322],{"embeddable":26,"href":323},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fmedia\u002F21698",[325],{"href":326},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fmedia?parent=21678",[328,330,332,334,336],{"taxonomy":186,"embeddable":26,"href":329},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fcategories?post=21678",{"taxonomy":189,"embeddable":26,"href":331},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Ftags?post=21678",{"taxonomy":192,"embeddable":26,"href":333},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fproject_category?post=21678",{"taxonomy":195,"embeddable":26,"href":335},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fcontact_email_category?post=21678",{"taxonomy":198,"embeddable":26,"href":337},"https:\u002F\u002Fapi.medicalfuturist.com\u002Fwp-json\u002Fwp\u002Fv2\u002Fyst_prominent_words?post=21678",[339],{"name":202,"href":203,"templated":26},[],1790663914257]