Health Financing: For a quick introduction of technological innovations in Africa

Technological innovation in the field of health should not take 15 to 20 years to arrive in Africa, said Wednesday, Dr. Phillipe Duneton, deputy executive director of Unitadi. "Our goal is to work with countries so that technological innovation does not take 15 to 20 years to reach Africa. Innovation can happen within three years, there is no way to wait, "Duneton said.
The Deputy Executive Director of Unitadi (the international organization responsible for facilitating access to drugs for AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and hepatitis worldwide) was speaking in an interview with APS on the sidelines of the panel. universal access to medicines and other products "at the scientific forum organized on the last day of the Galen Africa Forum. "These are issues that Unitaid is preparing. Many things have been done for the three diseases (AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis). We are seeing what is possible to do with other diseases. We can have a cost reduction, an increase in efficiency and a better service for the population, "he added. "We are trying to connect technology solutions with countries' drug needs. In order to have quality drugs and products, we need international and domestic funding, "he said.
According to him, "there are many innovations in Africa that must be capitalized". He said that Unitaid for example funded "the development of all pediatric formulations that did not exist for AIDS, tuberculosis or malaria because in Africa we have children who need them". "Nobody had developed this in the North because there were no children suffering from malaria and very few children were exposed to HIV," he said. "There are also three-in-one medications so that people living with HIV can take just one pill a day. It's a way of simplifying treatment, "he said. According to him, "there is a systematic work of needs detection at country level and to see how technologies can respond to them". He cited "the example of malaria with the introduction of injectable artesunate for the treatment of severe forms in children and adults". "It's a simplification of the treatment for the caregivers because we do not need more to monitor in the same way patients with quinine," he said.
"That's how technology can bring more for the patient, the caregiver and the health system. Further, in imaging, there are new techniques that will allow with artificial intelligence and deconcentrated with a small external probe to have the images on his laptop, "said Dr. Duneton. "Technology makes it possible to decentralize information, the quality of care and to have networks all over the country. If we put all this in a network, people can benefit from a higher quality of care, "he said.