School of International Development and Global Studies, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada.
The George Institute for Global Health, Imperial College London, London, UK.
Reprod Health. 2022 Feb 28;19(1):54. doi: 10.1186/s12978-022-01358-1.
Across sub-Saharan Africa where access to adequate maternal healthcare is fraught with myriad challenges, especially for hard-to-reach populations, digital health technologies offer opportunities to improve maternal health outcomes. Digital health can circumvent inefficiencies in the traditional healthcare system and address challenges such as limited access to in-person medical consultations, and poor access to skilled birth attendants and health promotion activities. These benefits notwithstanding, digital health can be exclusionary. Too often, digital maternal health programs are not designed with a focus on equity in distribution nor are they designed from a gender equity standpoint. In this paper, we illustrate exclusionary practices of digital health programs through an extensive literature review of digital maternal health programs across sub-Saharan Africa. Taking an intersectional approach, we discuss how women are most vulnerable and excluded at the intersection of gender, literacy, and disability. Tackling exclusionary practices in digital health is crucial to ensure that no woman or girl is left behind.
在撒哈拉以南非洲，获得足够的孕产妇医疗保健服务充满了无数的挑战，尤其是对于难以到达的人群来说，数字健康技术提供了改善孕产妇健康结果的机会。数字健康可以避免传统医疗体系中的低效率，并解决诸如有限的面对面医疗咨询机会、缺乏熟练的分娩助手以及健康促进活动难以普及等问题。尽管存在这些好处，但数字健康也可能具有排斥性。数字孕产妇健康计划往往没有注重公平分配，也没有从性别平等的角度进行设计。在本文中，我们通过对撒哈拉以南非洲的数字孕产妇健康计划的广泛文献回顾，说明了数字健康计划的排斥性做法。我们采用交叉视角，讨论了女性在性别、读写能力和残疾的交叉点上是如何最脆弱和被排斥的。解决数字健康中的排斥性做法对于确保没有妇女或女孩被落下至关重要。
