Donors have stopped funding Zambia's electronic public health initiative (e-health) because of the exorbitant fees the Zambia Information and Communications Technology Authority is believed to be charging the Ministry of Health.

The withdrawal of funding signals the end of the initiative, a programme centred on web-based electronic medical reports, referrals and the electronic transmission of medical results through text messages.

Dr. Peter Mwaba, Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary, confirmed the mobile health system and SMS-based messaging system for Early Infant Diagnosis result delivery has become unsustainable.

Mwaba told Parliamentary Select Committee on Communication, Transport, Works and Supply that because ZICTA was charging commercial rates for the ICT programme, donors that financially supported the programme have decided to pull out.

"The Ministry of Health had derived some benefits in the use of ICT including the use of health for Early Infant Diagnosis and electronic results transmission as turnaround time was reduced," Mwaba said.

The programme was launched three years ago in a bid to promote efficiency in health service delivery and to reduce overcrowding in the country's hospitals through the use of internet and mobile phone applications.

This latest development means the Ministry of Health will go back to manual-driven systems and traditional paper copies that take long to reach distance health centres, causing delays in treatment.

According to the Minister of Health Dr. Joseph Kasonde, "e-health offers a reliable and sustainable solution to the slow transmission of test results thereby eliminating unnecessary delays."

Attempts to reach ZICTA for comment proved unsuccessful at the time of publishing.