The Need for Robots in Global Health

Abstract

The health of every individual in the world is greatly influenced by global health issues and threats which are usually caused by international trade and voyage. These threats which have exposed the inadequacies of healthcare systems across the globe include the rapid spread of non-communicable and infectious diseases, pandemics, hunger and starvation, natural disasters, shortage of healthcare personnel and climate change. These threats have led to economic and social disruption in almost all spheres of human lives such as agriculture and education. Aim: Against this background, this study reviews global health challenges and the importance of robots in global health. This study also appraises the factors hindering the effective use of robotic technology to improve global health. Methodology: A total of 41 literatures relevant to the subject matter were obtained from diverse scientific electronic databases including CiteseerX, Science Direct, Google Scholar, IEEE explore, indexCat, PubMed and National Library of Medicine. Results: The study showed that robots can be used to improve global health by diagnosing and treating infectious diseases, reducing the dangers of human contact during pandemic and delivering food and medicines to infected individuals. The study also showed that robots can be used to reduce harmful gases released into the atmosphere and also limit the anxiety and fear of vaccination. The study also revealed that high cost, privacy-related issues, interoperability challenges and the fear of displacement of jobs by robots are some of the factors hindering the effective use of robotic technology to improve global health. Conclusion: This paper suggests that adopting a common standard for robots of different brands and education strategies are some of the strategies that will facilitate the effective use of robotic systems to improve the health of individuals across the globe.