Post by Edwin Mulwa, FAPH, MSc

South Africa's telehealth journey reminds us that a national strategy alone is not enough. While its ambitious National Telemedicine System stalled after Phase I, provincial innovations and platforms like MomConnect demonstrated that sustainable telehealth depends on operational infrastructure, local ownership, financing, and supportive regulation. The lesson is clear: lasting impact comes from designing telehealth programmes that can thrive beyond policy documents and pilot projects. How can we better bridge the gap between national vision and frontline implementation? Dapo Awobeku Dr. Funke Ogwa Sophie Delaigue Frederic Lievens Prof. S. Yunkap Kwankam, Ph.D. Derrick Muneene Dessislava Dimitrova, PhD Christine B. Lenihan Swetha Srinath Dércio Duvane Tapiwa Mukwashi Dr. Bannet Ndyanabangi Ronald Ng'eno, MPRSK Raisa Alexis Ner Santos, MPH Global Telehealth Community of Practice (GTCoP) VillageReach Geneva Digital Health Hub (gdhub) International Society for Telemedicine & eHealth #Telehealth #DigitalHealth #SouthAfrica #HealthSystems #GlobalHealth #VillageReach #PrimaryHealthCare