As managing medical conditions becomes increasingly more difficult in rural areas, technological advances could go a long way in improving access and patient care. The first step toward a new high-tech age in health-care delivery is the widespread adoption of digital-payment systems.
KARACHI The year is 2025. A woman with diabetes living in a rural area, where there is a shortage of healthcare workers, must manage her condition. To whom or what does she turn? Her smartphone. In just two years, the delivery of healthcare, and many other services, could look very different than it does today.
Even in the remotest parts of the world, fast-food chains and taxi companies harness the power of mobile technologies to deliver goods and services. Theoretically, t.
KARACHI The year is 2025. A woman with diabetes living in a rural area, where there is a shortage of healthcare workers, must manage her condition. To whom or what does she turn? Her smartphone. In just two years, the delivery of healthcare, and many other services, could look very different than it does today.
At the end of May, Prime Minister Imran Khan inaugurated the Ehsaas Saving Wallets initiative in Islamabad, a programme that will bring women into the financial inclusion net by allowing female beneficiaries the use of digital wallets for savings and cash withdrawals.
“As the pool of bank accounts increases, poverty decreases,” said the prime minister. “And when you bring women into the financial system, they are able to save money, start businesses and control their own lives.”
Given that only 18 percent of women in Pakistan are account holders, this initiative aims to widen the financial net for women. However, access to mobile money wallets requires access to mobile and internet services. Increasing the number of digital wallets for women may, therefore, prove to be a Herculean task, considering that Pakistan suffers from a 38 percent gender gap in mobile phone ownership (the highest in South Asia) and a 49 percent gender gap in internet usage.