Mobile Teledermatology in Uganda

A Mobile Phone-Based Teledermatology Project linking selected remote Hospitals in Uganda to local and international specialized centers.

Austrian project partner:

Medical University Graz, Dermatology

Local project partner:

Mbarara Universiy, Medical Faculty, Dermatology

Project manager:

Univ. Doz. Dr. Steven Kaddu, MB Ch B, MD

Image: project team

Uganda is an East African developing country with more than 20 million people but with only two main centers for treatment of skin diseases located at Kampala’s Makerere University and Mulago National Hospital (Department of Dermatology Makerere University,Kampala) and at Mbarara (Department of Dermatology,University of Mbarara,Mbarara), both of which have only a very limited number of qualified dermatologists (less than 5 altogether).
This oncoming project aims at establishing a mobile phone-based teledermatology program interconnecting several remote health centers without dermatologists in Uganda to the department of Dermatology, University of Mbarara and the Department of Dermatology, Medical University of Graz in order to support local health workers in these remote areas of Uganda in the diagnosis and treatment of skin diseases.

This project should be an extension and an expansion to the previously established teledermatology network (Teledermatology Web-Consultation and E-learning Project Kampala-Mbarara, Uganda and Graz, Austria). For this purpose, a mobile phone based two-way communication system connected to a locally and internationally accessible secure web server for secure transmission of patient’s data and images via cellular network (e.g. MMS, GPRS, etc.) will be initially setup.
The implemented system should act as a channel for prompt, long distance consultation of dermatological patients primarily seen at the different regional hospitals in Uganda. Special priority and emphasis should be put on quick and precise recognition of pediatric skin diseases, HIV/AIDS-associated skin diseases, and skin infections. In this respect, these services should be able to provide diagnostic and treatment decisions within 24 hours for “normal” cases and within two or three hours for urgent or priority cases. The mobile teledermatology services will further aim at improving local health worker’s knowledge level in recognition and treatment of skin diseases.
Following the initial results of the impact evaluation of the project, we hope to consider further expansion of teledermatology services both in Uganda and in other African countries in this region.

The project aims are:

1. To establish a cell phone-based (mobile) teledermatology network, efficiently interconnecting the main Ugandan Dermatology Departments at Mbarara and Kampala with 6 relatively large regional hospitals at Mukono, Jinja, Ngora, and Mengo without specialist dermatology services and also linking them to the Department of Dermatology, Medical University of Graz, Austria.

2. The network should act as a channel for prompt, long distance consultation of dermatological patients primarily seen at the different regional hospitals in Uganda. Special priority and emphasis should be put on quick and precise recognition of pediatric skin diseases, HIV/AIDS-associated skin diseases, and skin infections. In this respect, these services should be able to provide diagnostic and treatment decisions within 24 hours for “normal” cases and within two or three hours for urgent or priority cases.

3. The mobile teledermatology services will aim at improving case submitting local health worker’s knowledge level in recognition and treatment of skin diseases.

Further information:

Medical University Graz, Dermatology
Mbarara University