Prospects of telemedicine during and post COVID-19: highlighting the environmental health implications

Abstract

The outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in late 2019 had severe implications on the normal course of events across the globe. The imposition of lockdown, quarantine, and isolation measures by most countries to curtail the spread of the coronavirus led to the rapid development of information, communication, and technological (ICT) solutions to minimize the effect of the lockdown, and as an alternative to normal day-to-day physical interactions. Telemedicine involves the delivery of health care services by qualified health professionals using ICT for the exchange of valid information where distance is a critical factor, thus enhancing access to health care services. The use of ICT as a tool to improve access to health care services and for tackling the raging pandemic was one of the options embraced and considered by many countries. Indeed, there are indications that the use of telemedicine as a complementary option to current traditional medical practice will continue in the post-COVID period. The shift to telemedicine has severe health and environmental health implications and should be done with caution. Poor management of generated electronic waste was found to be responsible for environmental pollution and health hazards affecting major organs of the human body. Countries, especially those in the developing world, lack infrastructure for effective implementation of policies required to appropriately manage electronic waste. Therefore, it is highly imperative that adequate measures are put in place to mitigate the potential hazardous effects of the shift to telemedicine.