Data management Critical for Nigeria to Achieve Universal healthcare Delivery – Stakeholders

To deepen attainment universal healthcare delivery in Nigeria, stakeholders in the sector have identified digitization and data management as key critical success factors needed to boost coverage range and accessibility.

Experts asserted this position at a symposium organized by leading health insurance firm, Avon HMO recently in Lagos to commemorate their 10th anniversary with the topic, “The role of data and digitalization in accelerating our country’s progress on universal health coverage.’

While reiterating the backbone provided by the NHIA Act, Prof. Mohammed Nasir Sambo, Director General, National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) who delivered a keynote address underscored the pivotal role of technology in galvanizing the country into achieving Universal Health Coverage (UCH).

He disclosed, “Our policy direction must embrace digital technology and innovation. Technology can revolutionize healthcare, enhance access to services and improve health information management. Policies should support the adoption of electronic health records, telemedicine, mobile health applications and data-driven decision-making. Embracing this advancement will help promote efficiency, transparency and accountability within our health system. It will ensure that resources are well utilized to reach those who need them the most.

“Nigeria stands at a crucial junction in its journey towards attaining UHC as we embark on a new national development agenda, we must recognize the explicable link between health and economic development. Policy direction must be bold, visionary and responsive to the need of our diverse population by strengthening health systems, expanding financial risk protection, prioritizing prevention, embracing technology and fostering collaboration. I have great confidence in the collective commitment and determination of all the stakeholders present at this symposium. Let us seize this opportunity to shape policy that will transform the health landscape of Nigeria and pave way for a healthier prosperous and resilient nation.”

While commending Avon HMO for its impact, he noted that, “achieving universal health coverage requires a multi-sectorial collaborative approach, a policy direction must focus on partnership among government agencies and the private sector stakeholders, civil society organizations as well as international development partners.”

According to Adesimbo Ukiri, Avon HMO, CEO, said, “By its very nature, healthcare is data intensive and lends itself well to data analytics and artificial intelligence. All these are buzzwords that are being used across different sectors, Healthcare more than any other stand to benefit from all these innovation.”

“Data and digitization is going to be an accelerator for our country to achieve universal coverage. Like the Director General of National Health Insurance Authority (NHIA) has said, it is one of the areas we need to focus our attention on, including the attention of the new administration of our country. For it to be effective, its usage must be strategic and judicious. There are very important elements of that implementation that we must all bear in mind.”

Also speaking, Dr Sola Pitan, Medical Director/ CEO, Orile Agege General Hospital added, “I commend Avon HOM for bringing leaders in the healthcare sector to discuss digitalization. This is a subject we all need to wrap our head around and take advantage of its usefulness at all the various hospitals and healthcare facilities both private and public. We need to adopt electronic computer records and other digital health platforms. It is important to discuss the issues around technology including its challenges, security and how it can help improve policy-making around healthcare.”

Some key areas touched by the stakeholders in their recommendations include integration of digitalization and data analytics into school curriculum, leveraging artificial intelligence, standardization and data aggregation as well as ethics and universal accessibility among others.