Monitoring diseases across borders: African regional integrative information systems.

In African countries, communicable diseases remain the chief cause of a heavy disease burden. Regional economic, political and social integration bring new challenges in the management of these diseases, many of which are treatable. Information Communication Technology (ICT) applied through electronic health systems has the potential to strengthen healthcare service delivery and disease surveillance within these countries. This paper discusses the importance of well-defined e-Health strategies within countries and, in addition, proposes that countries within regions collaborate in planning for health information exchange across borders. It is suggested that particular attention be paid to technical and data standards enabling interoperability, and also to issues of security, patient privacy and governance.