Affiliation:
1. University of Johannesburg, South Africa
Abstract
This chapter investigates the impediments to mHealth adoption in Burundi. A survey was conducted with 212 healthcare professionals from 48 primary healthcare centres in Burundi. The findings reveal that although there is a high acceptance of mHealth capabilities from the primary healthcare workers, a host of factors mitigate against the implementation of mHealth interventions in Burundi. Amongst these are lack of skills to develop mHealth applications, high cost of mobile devices, low rate of cellphone and other mobile devices penetration, unreliable network coverage in rural areas, and a high cost of network connection. These factors have a low effect size on the acceptance of mHealth capabilities by primary healthcare workers in Burundi. Partnerships between Burundi's Ministry of Health and mobile service providers, extensive consultation with potential users of mHealth systems, and a performance-based system are further factors that need to be considered for the successful implementation of mHealth projects in Burundi.
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