Salud Digital | El auge de las herramientas digitales en Panamá durante el brote de COVID-19

The rise of digital tools in Panama during the COVID-19 outbreak

The Panamanian government through its Ministry of Health enabled platforms for data consultation; on the other hand, the private health sector is applying telemedicine tools.

On March 9, Panama's Health Minister Rosario Turner confirmed the first case of COVID-19 in the Central American country, and a day later, they reported the first fatality of the virus.

Given the speed of the virus spread in the following weeks, the Government of Panama through the Ministry of Health (MINSA) launched a platform with up-to-date data on the country's situation

(https://geosocial.maps.arcgis.com/apps/opsdashboard/index.html#/2c6e932c690d467b85375af52b614472) where the epidemic curve of COVID-19 progression, confirmed cases, deaths and recovered patients can be consulted. In addition to a series of graphs with information by age group and gender. Also, on this platform is shown a map showing the locations affected by the virus.

Moreover, in a responsible attempt to combat disinformation in COVID-19 times, MINSA launched the portal yomeinformopma.orgwhich details information on COVID-19, symptoms, propagation methods, prevention measures and what to do in case of disease.

In addition, MINSA enabled a WhatsApp chatbot that can be accessed via the following link: https://rosa.innovacion.gob.pa/. The chatbot called R.O.S.A. (Operational Automatic Health Response) performs a virtual screening and identifies possible cases of contagion, information that it sends to the MINSA. It also answers questions about the disease and the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

On the other hand, the private sector's response to the pandemic in Panama was also positive. The UK Embassy in Panama in collaboration with a pharmacist, Huli and the University Agency for Entrepreneurship Management at the University of Costa Rica (Auge-UCR) launched a virtual consultation platform to continue treatments of patients affected by the pandemic.

In addition, other service delivery companies such as the Mobile Medical Emergency Service (SEMM), which offers mobile health services such as ambulances, enabled several channels to deal with the health emergency. SEMM implemented a COVID-19 symptom self-assessment questionnaire on its website. In addition to its telemedicine channel that existed prior to the COVID-19 outbreak, in which through its application SEMM Panama offers medical care, expedition of electronic prescriptions, among other services.