I would like to call your attention to a recent open access publication, written by me and collaborators, on the usage of digital technology among school-attending adolescents in the capital Bissau, Guinea-Bissau, West Africa,
see https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph17238937
In short, we analysed the socio-economic determinants for usage in this group of young people. About half of the them aged 14-19 years had not used/had access to a desktop computer/laptop in the last 12 months, and one third did not report any usage of internet – even in this privileged group of urban school-attending adolescents. In times of COVID pandemic and increasing usage of virtual teaching, the paper illustrates the severity of the digital divide between the “haves” and “have nots”, and sub-Saharan Africa lags severely behind.
Regards,
Geir Gunnlaugsson MD, PhD, MPH
CHIFA Profile: Geir Gunnlaugsson is Professor of Global Health at the University of Iceland. He graduated with a medical diploma (MD) from this university with post-graduate training in paediatrics (PhD) and public health (MPH) at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden. Research and publications on, e.g., breastfeeding, infant and child mortality, child development and abuse, measles, cholera, and health systems in Iceland, Guinea-Bissau and Malawi. He was the General Secretary of ISSOP International Society for Social Pediatrics and Child Health in 2009-2017, and currently chairman of Africa 20:20 an Icelandic NGO to promote interest and knowledge on sub-Saharan Africa.
Email: geirgunnlaugsson AT hi.is
