Healthcare information and the rural primary care doctor

Abstract

Health inequity and improper dispensing of social justice is a huge topic of which one aspect is healthcare information and access to it. Access to health information is a ‘prerequisite for meeting the Millennium Development Goals’, and lack of knowledge and information, especially in resource-poor settings, impedes the delivery of quality healthcare and contributes to many preventable deaths worldwide. Three out of four doctors responsible for care of children in district hospitals in seven less developed countries reported inadequate knowledge in managing common childhood illnesses such as childhood pneumonia, severe malnutrition and sepsis. A review concluded that information deficiency exists ‘right across the health workforce’ and can be associated with provision of suboptimal care.