by Moshood Isah
Nigeria and indeed the African region have continued to endure a series of public health emergencies, with the most recent being the cholera outbreak affecting more than 21 states. These and other issues necessitate engagement that brings stakeholders together to improve disease surveillance and response. One such engagement held recently was the Africa Digital Health Summit (ADHS). The summit is a platform for innovators, academics, entrepreneurs, researchers, regulators, policymakers, and development partners to share knowledge and experience in digital health across Africa.
The 2024 edition of the summit, with the theme “Digital Transformation of Health Systems: What, Why, and How?”, featured industry experts from around the world. In the presence of the Honorable Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Tunji Alausa, and the Commissioner of Health in Lagos State, Prof. Akin Abayomi, eHealth Africa, and other organizations displayed crucial digital health solutions currently being used to address public health emergencies.
During the summit, eHealth Africa hosted a panel session where it discussed a series of digital innovations and how instrumental these solutions have been in public health and disease surveillance. The session, moderated by David Akpan, Deputy Director of Programs and Partnerships, featured Andrew Karlyn, a board member at eHealth Africa; Dr. Emmanuel Agogo, Director of Pandemic Threats at the Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics (FIND); Dr. Monique Aaron Foster, Deputy Director of Programs at the Sierra Leone Division of Global Health Protection, Global Health Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Dr. Ubong Okon, Deputy Director of Programs and Impact at eHealth Africa; and Motunrayo Bello, Chief Executive Officer of Womenovate.
In the words of Atef Fawaz, the Executive Director of eHealth Africa, after the session, “Digital innovation is the future of health and the world in general. If we want to avoid the next pandemic, we must build on existing digital solutions. Technology has helped in responding to health emergencies in the past, and it will help in the future.”
Another key highlight of the event was the technical session moderated by Kazeem Balogun, Program Manager at eHealth Africa, which featured the demonstration of Electronic Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (eIDSR). As revealed by Deputy Director of Global Health Informatics and ICT Operations, Abdulhamid Yahaya, the eIDSR is an optimized system created to improve the flow of information within health systems. This allows accurate and early detection of disease outbreaks right from the communities to the highest level of intervention. According to Abdulhamid, “This is an opportunity to reignite and energize stakeholders to drive the utilization of the eIDSR solution to improve early detection of disease outbreaks in our communities.”
The demo session was preceded by a technical session on leveraging digital innovation to strengthen early warning systems for early detection of outbreaks using an ecosystem approach, led by Dr. Emmanuel Agogo. He explained the importance of effective data flow during disease surveillance and how it helps in developing early warning systems from the communities to health facilities, state, and national levels.
While commending the insightful presentations, the Director of Programs and Partnerships at eHealth Africa, Ota Akhigbe, emphasized the need to consider all stakeholders playing an active role in promoting the early detection of disease outbreaks. She said the public sector is crucial in providing population data, while the private sector leverages its capabilities to develop innovative solutions and the academia contributes research to bring out learning points.
To reecho the words of Dr. Tunji Alausa, “Digital health innovation is no longer a luxury but a necessity.” Thus, conversations like this should remain at the forefront of national discourse. The conversation around digital health and the innovative use of digital technology in advancing public health cannot be overstated. In furtherance of this conversation, eHealth Africa is delighted to announce the second edition of the Insights Learning Forum, an annual event dedicated to advancing digital health in public health practice.
The 2024 edition of this high-level forum will be held on July 31st, 2024, at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja with the theme “Digital Innovations in Public Health Practice: Innovations and Impact.”
