The VIS Initiative is a concerted effort to bring together interested Kenyan clinicians and researchers to participate in the conception, design, programming and implementation of eHealth solutions for clinical and public services and research. The initiave is founded, firstly, on the premise that there are many clinical and research scientists working in diverse settings of the country who either have needs that can be solved through the power of information communication technology or have identified appropriate eHealth solutions for clinical service health systems needs that they have not been able to share hitherto. Secondly, a large gap in training on health informatics exists in Kenya meaning that the country is still far behind in being prepared for a digital revolution in the health sector. Thirdly, eHealth solutions have till now been viewed as an esoteric reserve for researchers and little has been done for them to receive wider practical application in clinical service. This initiative intends to join in transforming the health systems through spurring the development and adoption of practical eHealth solutions for clinical and health systems needs.
VIS is a virtual collaboration and has no resources to establish offices or hire its own staff. Importantly, most of the solutions developed so far by those involved in this initiative have been as part of surmounting problems encountered during their normal duties in their places of employment. A large chunk of the work to develop various eHealth solutions is done during time out of normal duties.
