E-health in the Eastern Mediterranean Region: a decade of challenges and achievements.

The World Health Organization Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) has made huge progress in terms of use of information and communication technology (ICT) in the healthcare sector. Despite the late entry of ICT in health in the Region, there have been many impressive developments both as public health applications and in medical care. The article attempts to draw a picture of the current status of e-health applications in the Region with some specific examples of milestones and achievements made. The overall ICT situation and economic factors coupled with the health situation in the Region dictate the state-of-the-art of e-health.