Sustainability factors in telemedicine services for rural communities in low-income regions

Telemedicine projects in developing regions have a long history of unsuccessful experiences due to the complexity of such projects: practically none of the dimensions of integral sustainability are straightforward in such projects. When sustainability becomes a priority, it is difficult for traditional development initiatives to account for all critical success factors. The EHAS Foundation has developed telemedicine projects along the Napo River during the last 10 years in the Peruvian Amazon Rainforest. At each stage, the experience has shown what aspects of sustainability were not taken into account. This talk will analyze these cases and discuss how sustainability has evolved.