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Information and communication technology development and health gap nexus in Africa

INTRODUCTION: Development of information and communication technology has been identified as a tool for fast and effective information gathering and dissemination, and as a means through which almost every social and economic sector (including the health sector) could achieve economic, operational,...

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Autores principales: Megbowon, Ebenezer Toyin, David, Oladipo Olalekan
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10097944/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37064667
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1145564
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author Megbowon, Ebenezer Toyin
David, Oladipo Olalekan
author_facet Megbowon, Ebenezer Toyin
David, Oladipo Olalekan
author_sort Megbowon, Ebenezer Toyin
collection PubMed
description INTRODUCTION: Development of information and communication technology has been identified as a tool for fast and effective information gathering and dissemination, and as a means through which almost every social and economic sector (including the health sector) could achieve economic, operational, and service delivery efficiencies that can enable the realization of targeted outcomes. ICT can serve as a tool for achieving international agreements (including the Alma Ata Declaration of 1978), thereby accelerating the achievement of various global development targets. METHODS: Consequently, based on a sample of 38 countries from 2000 to 2018, this study investigates the effect of ICT development on the health gap, and whether the effect varies by gender and sub-region in Africa. The dependent variable (health gap) was measured as the difference between the achieved life expectancy at birth of 60 years and the Alma Ata Declaration of 1978 targeted life expectancy at birth of 60 years. The main independent variables are ICT indicators (ICT index, mobile cellular subscriptions, and internet access), while the gross domestic product (GDP), which is the measure of economic growth, healthcare expenditure, urbanization, and labor market outcome, is employed as control variables. The effect was examined using Driscoll-Kraay standard errors, feasible generalized least squares (FGLS), and panel-corrected standard error (PCSE). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The findings of the Driscoll-Kraay standard errors estimation technique supported by those of FGLS and PCSE suggest that ICT does act as an indispensable stimulator for Africa to significantly exceed the international health target of life expectancy at birth of 60 years. It can be concluded that African leaders need to take advantage and maximize the health-enhancing potential of the internet component of ICT through relevant policies that would improve internet coverage, connectivity, and access for individuals and health institutions.
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spelling pubmed-100979442023-04-14 Information and communication technology development and health gap nexus in Africa Megbowon, Ebenezer Toyin David, Oladipo Olalekan Front Public Health Public Health INTRODUCTION: Development of information and communication technology has been identified as a tool for fast and effective information gathering and dissemination, and as a means through which almost every social and economic sector (including the health sector) could achieve economic, operational, and service delivery efficiencies that can enable the realization of targeted outcomes. ICT can serve as a tool for achieving international agreements (including the Alma Ata Declaration of 1978), thereby accelerating the achievement of various global development targets. METHODS: Consequently, based on a sample of 38 countries from 2000 to 2018, this study investigates the effect of ICT development on the health gap, and whether the effect varies by gender and sub-region in Africa. The dependent variable (health gap) was measured as the difference between the achieved life expectancy at birth of 60 years and the Alma Ata Declaration of 1978 targeted life expectancy at birth of 60 years. The main independent variables are ICT indicators (ICT index, mobile cellular subscriptions, and internet access), while the gross domestic product (GDP), which is the measure of economic growth, healthcare expenditure, urbanization, and labor market outcome, is employed as control variables. The effect was examined using Driscoll-Kraay standard errors, feasible generalized least squares (FGLS), and panel-corrected standard error (PCSE). RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: The findings of the Driscoll-Kraay standard errors estimation technique supported by those of FGLS and PCSE suggest that ICT does act as an indispensable stimulator for Africa to significantly exceed the international health target of life expectancy at birth of 60 years. It can be concluded that African leaders need to take advantage and maximize the health-enhancing potential of the internet component of ICT through relevant policies that would improve internet coverage, connectivity, and access for individuals and health institutions. Frontiers Media S.A. 2023-03-30 /pmc/articles/PMC10097944/ /pubmed/37064667 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1145564 Text en Copyright © 2023 Megbowon and David. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Public Health
Megbowon, Ebenezer Toyin
David, Oladipo Olalekan
Information and communication technology development and health gap nexus in Africa
title Information and communication technology development and health gap nexus in Africa
title_full Information and communication technology development and health gap nexus in Africa
title_fullStr Information and communication technology development and health gap nexus in Africa
title_full_unstemmed Information and communication technology development and health gap nexus in Africa
title_short Information and communication technology development and health gap nexus in Africa
title_sort information and communication technology development and health gap nexus in africa
topic Public Health
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10097944/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/37064667
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2023.1145564
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