South Africa Health System: Johannesburg digitizes health records of more than half a million people

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In South Africa, Johannesburg city is celebrating a medical milestone. It has registered more than half a million patients on its electronic health register. The country's hospitals and clinics are often overburdened with long waiting times, making it a painful process for patients. It's hoped the system will reduce times and eliminate the need to fill out documents. CGTN's Julie Scheier Reports.

Johannesburg's hospitals and clinics are going paperless. Over half a million people are now on the health register - a significant milestone for one of the most populous cities in South Africa. City Mayor Herman Mashaba also joined the queue to try the system out.

HERMAN MASHABAEXECUTIVE MAYOR OF JOHANNESBURG "If I see what this technology is going to do making lives for our people so easy, here is it. If I was obviously visiting the clinic, then I can have a number, have a queuing system then I don't have to really be moved around like what used to happen in the past."

A digital record tracks a patient's medical history which can be accessed at any state or private facility in the country.

MPHO PHALATSEMEMBER, JOHANNESBURG MAYORAL COMMITTEE ON HEALTH "The ability to access records and look at how patients were treated. That's also going to be part of our quality improvement approach where we can, unlike in the past where you may want to check what happened to the patient and not be able to access the file. This time it will be quite easy to access those files."

It helps doctors diagnose and treat patients quicker, especially in life threatening situations.

HERMAN MASHABAEXECUTIVE MAYOR OF JOHANNESBURG "There's still a long way to go but I think we are really quite pleased as a city for having such technology to assist us in making sure we can assist our people and serve them with pride."

South Africa is moving towards universal health coverage. A comprehensive database will allow doctors anywhere in the world to access a patient's record and provide effective treatment. Julie Scheier, CGTN, Johannesburg, South Africa.