“Telemedicine” Links Africans to Indian Expertise

Using its information-technology expertise, India has launched a telemedicine project that allows doctors in Ethiopia to consult on images or lab results online with physicians, based in India, 2000 miles away. “Ethiopia's health problems are mirrored across Africa where doctors and nurses are often overworked and underpaid, villagers have to walk miles to the nearest clinic and drugs and treatment are often beyond the means of ordinary people,” writes Barry Malone from Ethiopia’s capital city for Reuters. India has hopes of connecting Africa’s 53 countries via satellite and internet, competing with China for a large and untapped market. The project “dovetails with the country's drive to deepen its links with resource-rich Africa to secure energy supplies and markets,” Malone writes. Officials from India describe their relationship with Africa as one that’s both long-term and two-way. – YaleGlobal