The Federal Government has inaugurated an implementation committee for Nigeria’s digital health initiative.
The implementation committee, according to the FG, will midwife data policy, regulation, and repository management and serve as an ombudsman to establish a national digital health environment that will support the scale-up of digital health interventions.
Speaking at the inauguration of the 20-person committee in Abuja on Friday, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, explained that the digitalisation of healthcare would help to improve patients’ experience and protection of data.
He said, “The platform will also improve patients’ health outcomes, and reduce costs of care by the providers at different levels, improve the work life of health providers using the tools, and for policymakers, managers to improve the effectiveness and efficiency, and be able to hold actors accountable.
“I expect that we will leverage the Electronic Medical Record and Electronic Health Record to increase the engagement of Nigerians with their health and the providers.”
on his part, the Minister of State for Health and Social Welfare, Tunji Alausa, said the lack of uniform data collection and management has presented the Nigerian healthcare system with numerous challenges and limited the development of the health industry.
Alausa, who also doubles as the chairman of the committee, however, acknowledged that the digital in health initiative will prove that digitalisation in health goes beyond EMR, and EHR platforms.
