New digital platform to tackle sickle-cell disease

The Ministry of Health in partnership with Novartis, and the Sickle Cell Foundation of Ghana is set to introduce a new digital healthcare platform which will deliver essential medical guidance to support clinical decision making in the country.

Known as the EMGuidance, the new platform which is expected to be launched later this month would connect healthcare practitioners to the local healthcare ecosystem and medical industry, bringing comprehensive, up-to-date and locally relevant clinical information to healthcare workers.

The platform is also expected to be an instrumental step forward in supporting the initiative to improve outcomes for patients suffering from Sickle Cell Disease.

Globally it is estimated that 15 million babies will be born with sickle-cell disease over the next 30 years, with up to 90 per cent of them in low-income countries likely to die before reaching five years of age. Early detection and treatment of the disease, however, can substantially reduce mortality.

Empowering healthcare professionals

The Chief Executive Officer of EMGuidance, Yaseen Khan, said empowering frontline healthcare professionals with locally relevant medicines and clinical guidance was critical to achieving the best patient outcomes.

He said however, many a times quick access to the right information to drive important clinical decisions was not at hand.

“Taking complex clinical information, from across a medical ecosystem, and creating simple but powerful digital support at the point of care, is at the heart of what EMGuidance does, and is particularly relevant in the treatment of Sickle Cell Disease.

“With the support and leadership of local Ghanaian medical partners, we believe this effort will enhance clinical guideline adherence by practitioners, supporting improved rates of screening and diagnosis, greater dosage and treatment and accuracy, and ultimately reducing crisis events and supporting improved quality of life for patients with this disease,” he stated.

He said the platform would serve as an independent medical platform that would be instrumental in carrying content and clinical information that supports the Sickle Cell Disease project to these healthcare professionals.

He said the platform would however not be restricted to this project alone, but would bring its full service offering to the market.

Know this

EMGuidance was launched in South Africa six years ago, and has grown rapidly, with 55 per cent of health care practitioners in the country now signed up as subscribers.

With over 10 000 daily users and over 1 million searches per month, it is a powerful day-to-day clinical decision-making support tool trusted by doctors, nurses, pharmacists and multinational pharmaceutical companies alike. It is free to use for registered health professionals.