Teleoncology in Developing Countries

Abstract

The use of telecommunication devices and models can be crucial in settings where geographical, cultural, social, and economic restraints undermine the delivery of care, particularly for patients with cancer. Nevertheless, the diagnosis and treatment of cancer is a difficult process, and rural health centers often to not have the capacity or the means to evaluate these patients nor the basic tools to treat them. Compliance with therapy in these patients can be difficult. People are busy with work and taking care of their families. There is also a lack of knowledge about chronic conditions and the risks related to an abrupt interruption of treatment. Follow-up remains a major issue. The implementation of telemedicine systems, based on simple information and communications technology (ICT) devices, can help spread health education, encourage healthy lifestyles, and produce an improvement in compliance among patients diagnosed with cancer. Building a network among central and rural hospitals could help with both the consultation process among specialists and peripheral health networks and the referral process among rural and urban health centers. The management of neoplastic conditions in low-income settings remains a large and expensive problem that only the development of specific national health programs – that also take into account the opportunities presented by ICT and telemedicine – can correctly address.