Event Category: Filter 1

The November Insights Webinar featured an array of experts cutting across the Academia, Government Ministries, Agencies and Non-Governmental Organisations as we dissected critical emerging trends and opportunities in Health Information Management Systems. Important. The panelists reiterated the fact that Health Information is a foundational component and a very important building block in Healthcare and thus is a priority area in the National Strategic Health Development plan. 

Similarly, the panelist from the Government perspective reiterated that the Health Information Management system is a crucial component and one of the factors that will determine the achievement of Nigeria’s Universal health coverage goal. Thus, beyond the deployment of Hardware and software for effective Health Information Management Systems, the cost of connectivity also remains crucial in ensuring efficacy. 

He said the usage of Information Management systems across every sector is getting wider as stakeholders continue to understand the importance of data in decision making.  Thus there is a need to have credible high quality data to inform objective  and impactful decisions to improve healthcare delivery. 

Importantly, Health Information Management Systems has consistently guided Humanitarian interventions in complex and dynamic environments to understand  victims and beneficiaries especially during public health emergencies. At the National level, there are significant  trends  in Health Information Management systems in a country like Nigeria. This according to one of the panelists is due to key reforms which have improved the contribution of Information Communication Technology to other sectors and also to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product.

Stakeholders Call for need for further collaborations across multiple sectors including academia, local communities, Government agencies, young people and startups to improve Health Information Management Systems especially in Low and Medium Income countries.

Moderator

•  Israel Cheuka Chauke – Program Manager  iMMAP  – 

Panelists

Emeka Nwankwo- Digital held Desk Officer, Department of Health Planning Research and Statistics, Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria

Abdulhamid Yahaya – Deputy Director, Global Health Informatics in ICT Services, ehealth Africa 

Dr Audu Liman – Head of Atiku Institute for Development, American University of Nigeria

Sulaiman Badamasi  – Research and Data Analyst -iMMAP

Faysal Barau – Information Management Officer- Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA)

Engr. Usman Maaruf Yakubu, – Digital Economy Development Department, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA)

Click to Playback

In our 16th episode of Insights by eHA, held on Wednesday, October 25th, 2023, we delved into the transition from traditional healthcare information storage to the adoption of Electronic Medical Records (EMR). This session gathered experts from diverse fields to discuss the development, principles, impact, and ethical-legal considerations surrounding EMR.

During the webinar, our panelists emphasized the pivotal role EMR plays in modern healthcare. It substantially reduces medication errors, mitigates misinterpretations of handwritten records, addresses adverse drug reactions, optimizes technology for universal healthcare access, coordinates care plans across healthcare providers, and enhances efficiency and cost-effectiveness for healthcare organizations.

The panelists also highlighted crucial factors for EMR implementation: User-centered design, scalability, flexibility, interoperability, and regulatory compliance. Success stories from EHA’s clinics in Nigeria, showcasing improved patient satisfaction and care coordination, as well as Kenya’s Kenyatta National Hospital’s enhanced patient care and administrative efficiency, were discussed.

However, challenges in EMR implementation were identified. These include designing new features, lack of standardized data formats and coding systems, literacy and training, and limited access to high-speed internet and reliable power sources.

Ethical and legal considerations in EMR implementation were also addressed. These encompass consent and access control, data ownership and portability, data retention and deletion, and informed consent for research.

To ensure the successful adoption of EMR, our panelists called for ongoing awareness campaigns, targeted at healthcare workers to enhance their understanding of its significance. Moreover, they advocated for collaborative efforts between governments, healthcare providers, stakeholders, and IT experts to establish standardized data formats and invest in robust IT infrastructure.

Moderator

Tope Ogunseye Falodun  – eHealth Africa 

Panelists

Dr Raphael Akangbe (PhD) – Digital Health and Health Informatics Expert.

Abdulhamid Yahaya – Deputy Director, Global Health Informatics, eHealth Africa

 George Ohia – Engineering Lead, Health Informatics, EHA Clinics.

Click to Playback

The need to foster and improve public-private partnerships when it comes to last-mile vaccine delivery formed the crux of discussion during the September episode of Insights by eHA held on Wednesday, 27th September 2023.  The monthly Public Health Insights Webinar Series to provide a platform for intellectual discussions on improving healthcare systems in Africa. 

This episode titled, “Promoting public-private partnerships to improve last-mile vaccine delivery, brought together industry experts with an array of experience in the area of public-private partnerships in vaccine delivery, its many success stories and challenges hindering its prospects.  Speaking during the webinar, panelists reiterated the importance of designing a concrete plan and solid framework to ensure sustainable implementation. Panelists also laid emphasis on the need  for all partners to be on the same page as regards the monitoring and evaluating the progress  of such a project.

According to panelists, it  is important to explore the accessibility of mobile technologies to ensure vaccines get to remote areas. A simple example is the use of Whatsap and Short Message Services via partnership with mobile service providers for effective communication to clients and caregivers to encourage and increase vaccination. Private partnership plays a crucial role in setting up and utilisation of such technologies to promote vaccine uptake. 

Citing examples, panelists revealed that the “Africa Resource Center for Excellence in Supply Chain Management (ARC_ESM) midwifed a public private partnership to ensure that life saving vaccines are available and affordable across all states of intervention. This was achieved by partnering the local pharmaceutical companies to improve production capacities, ensure drug safety and increase job availability due to potential increased demand for medicines.  Another important public private partnership highlighted during the webinar is between Zipline Drone Delivery and Logistics  and Kaduna State Government which successfully delivered life saving vaccines to remote areas using drones. 

The panelists called on government agencies to prioritize partnerships through   effective resource allocation and improved commitment to ensure scaling of these partnerships while calling for the replication of successful partnerships in other locations taking cognisance of the contexts.

Moderator

Mohammed-Faosy Adeniran  – eHealth Africa 

Panelists

• Timilehin Omole –  Executive Director of the International Association of Public Health Logisticians 

• Doreen Enejoh – Country Program Lead, USAID MTaPS Program, Management Sciences for Health, Nigeria 

• Dr. Abiodun Oyenuga – Project Lead, BMGF Strategic Support to targeted Nigerian States to Improve Supply Chain Performance

Click to Playback

 

In May 2022, the World Health Organisation (WHO) formally launched the Geographic Information System (GIS) Centre for Health in a bid to manage the production and use of geospatial data and tech systems towards strengthening public health interventions. According to the WHO, despite its numerous medical applications and importance in global health, many countries currently lack the benefits of (GIS) to strengthen their health information system. 

This may not be unconnected to some technical encumbrances and bottlenecks that may have hindered the optimum utilisation of the systems especially in preparing and responding to health emergencies. The challenges of accessing accurate environmental and demographic amongst other issues around both software and hardware coupled with inadequate technical capacity have become a serious bane to maximum efficacy of GIS in developing countries.

In this vein, there are huge opportunities for developing countries to explore and adopt context-specific systems to improve healthcare delivery. Thus the 14th episode of insights webinar titled; Optimising Geographic Information Systems (GIS) to Improve Healthcare Delivery, will discuss how to surmount challenges to scale GIS in a bid to improve different aspects of healthcare delivery. 

The webinar will also amplify interventions by ehealth Africa and other stakeholders in the deployment of geospatial data.

We look forward to your contributions in what will be another impactful episode of Insights Webinar!

Register HERE

The 13th episode of ehealth Africa’s monthly Insight Webinar was held on 5th July, 2023 featuring seasoned health experts in Nigeria and Africa.

This episode titled “Innovations for Improved Disease Surveillance, Emergency Preparedness and Response”, provided a platform to chat pathways on how innovative ideas and systems can be used to improve surveillance in a bid to improve preparedness and response to potential health outbreaks of health emergencies. During the discussion, experts from Nigeria and Cameroon identified critical innovations and best practices in improving surveillance, preparedness and response to potential health emergencies. 

The Panelists identified the need to move from analog to a more innovative and digitized system of surveillance while revealing how  innovations can build data collection, analysis and sharing processes that will enhance early detection and response to pandemics. They also explained the need to integrate community stakeholders to improve understanding and deployment of surveillance tools giving examples of successful implementation in countries like Nigeria and Cameroon. Panelists call on governments, especially in more vulnerable countries, to improve its financial investment and ensure policies that promote innovations in disease surveillance, preparedness and response.

Host

Fatimah Howeidy: eHealth Africa  

Panelists

Dr Salawu Musa S : National Polio Emergency Operation Center, Abuja

Dr Tchokfe Ndoula Shalom : Permanent Secretary |Expanded Program on Immunization|Ministry of Public Health (Cameroon)

Dr. Abdulrahman Ahmad : Public Director,  Ministry of Health Sokoto

Click to Playback

As we strive towards achieving the Sustainable Development  Goal of ensuring  inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all, it is increasingly important to embrace digital education. 

In this vein, the 12th episode of  Insights webinar series titled “Building the Tech Skills Gap in Public Health” seeks to raise awareness on the existing gaps in Tech Skills, and the importance of bridging the gap to  enhance public health in Africa. 

The webinar will provide a platform for open discussion, sharing of experiences, and learning from each other’s perspectives how to foster innovation and progress in public health tech skills development. 

During the one hour event, experts with timeless experience in building tech capacity of young people to develop digital health solutions for public health will share success stories, challenges and future prospects on building a cohort of tech experts and solution providers in public health.

You are just a click away from participating in this conversation!

Register HERE

In commemoration of the month of March – globally referred to as Women’s month, we will host the Insights webinar on the topic ‘Achieving Gender Equity in Digital Health Practice’ to join the collective activism that will drive the change to #EmbraceEquity, from grassroots action to wide-scale and global momentum.

This webinar explored the importance of achieving gender equity in digital health practice and highlight the challenges and opportunities in promoting gender-sensitive digital health solutions.

Moderator

Juliet Odogwu ; Executive Director, eHealth Africa

Panelists

Rose Nzyoka, Country Representative, Palladium Kenya
Dayo Spencer-Walters, USAID Global Health Security (GHS) Advisor
Evelyn Castle, CEO & Co-Founder, EHA Impact Ventures

Motunrayo Opayinka, Founder and CEO, Womenovate

Emeka Chukwu, Senior Digital Health Advisor Health Enabled

Click to Playback

Implementing digital systems in vaccination processes at every stage starting from the campaign to last mile delivery can hasten the flow of information, address data quality challenges,  improve accountability and help to provide timely information for effective decision making.

Moderator

Stephanie Okpere, Project Manager, eHealth Africa

Panelists

Dr. Desmond Maada Kangbai, Ministry of Health and Sanitation, Republic of Sierra Leone

Brian Atuhaire, Programme Manager for High Impact Countries, Gavi, The Vaccine Alliance, Geneva

Temitayo Tella-Lah, Program Manager, eHealth Africa

Click to Playback

The supply of safe blood products is essential for a normal, functional health system, but deficiencies in this supply chain become acutely problematic during a crisis. The ability to increase incoming supply and manipulate existing stock in response to an emergency are crucial.

Join us at our January Insights webinar as we discuss how digital tools, like mobile phones, software applications, cloud computing and storage can help to improve accuracy in the distribution of blood products.

Attendance is free, but registration is required. Click here to register now.