The RAFT network celebrates 20 years of telemedicine
20 years ago, the Réseau en Afrique Francophone pour la Télémédecine (RAFT) and the Université Numérique Francophone Mondiale (UNFM) joined forces to improve access to healthcare and medical expertise in isolated areas. Founded by Professor Antoine Geissbuhler, a specialist in medical informatics who is now Dean of the Faculty of Medicine at the UNIGE and Director of Teaching and Research at the HUG, RAFT has become a global telemedicine network. On 23 May, it brought together its partners and supporters to work together on the future of this remarkable technological and human adventure.
Photo: RAFT. The project partners gathered in Geneva to celebrate 20 years of technological and human adventure.
Breaking the isolation and precariousness of rural medical teams in French-speaking Africa: that was the initial aim of the RAFT network. "In Mali in the early 2000s, young doctors leaving for far-flung health centres called on us to use IT tools to establish communications with specialists. What did they want? To continue their training and seek advice on complex cases," recalls Antoine Geissbuhler. "In short, to move instead of moving doctors and patients.”
This is how the first milestones of an international network were laid. Like the skiff whose name it bears, RAFT is based on simple, robust technical solutions that can be adapted to local conditions, to facilitate communication, collaboration and distance learning, to support medical decisions and to improve the quality of care.
Thousands of physicians on four continents
Two decades later, this telemedicine and distance learning project in sub-Saharan Africa has spread to many countries on four continents. There are now hundreds of hospitals and healthcare facilities connected in around twenty countries, thousands of professionals connected, thousands of distance learning courses, and dozens of collaborations around the world.
As well as promoting remote medical training, consultation and expertise, RAFT deploys diagnostic tools such as ultrasound scanners and electrocardiograms that can be interpreted remotely. Furthermore, these activities now go beyond the medical field: its frugal technologies can be applied to other activities, notably in the humanitarian field, for conflict resolution, as well as for training in cultural heritage management.
"One of our satisfactions is to see the RAFT network grow organically, without centralisation in Geneva," notes Antoine Geissbühler. "The partnership with Geneva is continuing, however, particularly in terms of training and technical support, as well as conducting studies to assess the real impact of telemedicine on healthcare systems and the health of the population, and devising even more effective solutions.