Abstract:
Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the attention has now shifted towards universal vaccination to gracefully lift
strict COVID-19 restrictions previously imposed to contain the spread of the disease. Sub-Saharan Africa is
experiencing an exponential increase of infections and deaths coupled with vaccines shortages, personal pro tective equipment, weak health systems and COVID-19 emerging variants. Some developed countries integrated
telemedicine to reduce the impacts of the shortage of healthcare professionals and potentially reduce the risk of
exposure, ensuring easy delivery of quality health services while limiting regular physical contact and direct
hospitalization. However, the adoption of telemedicine and telehealth is still nascent in many sub-Saharan Africa
countries. Therefore, this study reflects on progress made towards the use of telemedicine, virtual health care
services, challenges encountered, and proffers ways to address them. We conducted a systematic literature review
to synthesise literature on telemedicine in sub-Saharan Africa. The study revealed that telemedicine provides
unprecedented benefits such as improving efficiency, effective utilization of healthcare resources, forward tri aging, prevention of medical personnel infection, aiding medical students' clinical observation and participation,
and assurance of social support for patients. However, the absence of policy on virtual care and political will, cost
of sustenance of virtual health care services, inadequate funding, technological and infrastructural barriers, pa tient and healthcare personnel bias on virtual care and cultural barriers are identified as limiting factors to the
adoption of virtual health care in many African health systems. To alleviate some of these barriers, we recommend
the development of robust policies and frameworks for virtual health care, the inclusion of virtual care in the
medical school curriculum, supporting virtual care research and development, increasing health funding,
removing monopolisation of telecommunication services, developing of virtual health solutions that address ec centricities of African health syste
