Conclusions of the digital health hub of the Transform Africa Summit (2018): strong government leadership and public-private-partnerships are key prerequisites for sustainable scale up of digital health in Africa

Abstract

BackgroundThe use of digital technologies to improve access to health is gaining momentum in Africa. This is more pertinent with the increasing penetration of mobile phone technology and internet use, and calls for innovative strategies to support implementation of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals and Universal Health Coverage on the continent. However, the huge potential benefits of digital health to advance health services delivery in Africa is yet to be fully harnessed due to critical challenges such as proliferation of pilot projects, poor coordination, inadequate preparedness of the African health workforce for digital health, lack of interoperability and inadequate sustainable financing, among others. To discuss these challenges and propose the way forward for rapid, cost-effective and sustainable deployment of digital health in Africa, a Digital Health Hub was held in Kigali from 8th to 9th May 2018 under the umbrella of the Transform Africa Summit 2018.MethodsThe hub was organized around five thematic areas which explored the status, leadership, innovations, sustainable financing of digital health and its deployment for prevention and control of Non-Communicable Diseases in Africa. It was attended by over 200 participants from Ministries of Health and Information and Communication Technology, Private Sector, Operators, International Organizations, Civil Society and Academia.ConclusionsThe hub concluded that while digital health offers major opportunities for strengthening health systems towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals including Universal Health Coverage in Africa, there is need to move from Donor-driven pilot projects to more sustainable and longer term nationally owned programmes to reap its benefits. This would require the use of people-centred approaches which are demand, rather than supply-driven in order to avoid fragmentation and wastage of health resources. Government leadership is also critical in ensuring the availability of an enabling environment including national digital health strategies, regulatory, coordination, sustainable financing mechanisms and building of the necessary partnerships for digital health.RecommendationsWe call on the Smart Africa Secretariat, African Ministries in charge of health, information and communication technology and relevant stakeholders to ensure that the key recommendations of the hub are implemented.

Experiences of midwives and community health workers using mHealth to improve services to pregnant women in rural Burkina Faso, Africa

“…[23] African governments realize that present investments in digital health services will not deliver the benefits promised or expected if the following deficiencies are not addressed; shortage of skilled healthcare professionals, their lack of training and access to education, and the lack of resources, ranging from money to tools to infrastructure. [25,26] The critical shortage of skilled healthcare providers in LRSs, which is as much a medical problem as it is social and political, is one of the largest obstacles faced by public health systems in the developing world. [1] For example, Sub-Saharan countries have between one and two nurses and midwives per 1,000 inhabitants, compared to an average of nine in highincome countries; and have less than one doctor for 1,000 inhabitants.…”

How Can Digital Health Technologies Contribute to Sustainable Attainment of Universal Health Coverage in Africa? A Perspective

“…Fourth, evaluation of the outcomes, impact and cost-effectiveness, together with sustainable funding models for DH are also required to inform decisions to prioritize DH and determine their feasibility vis-à-vis the context of a country (20, 38). Fifth, bridging the communication, coordination and knowledge gaps between public health and ICT stakeholders is also imperative as well as training a critical mass of human resource for managing and maintaining the DH architecture and infrastructure (39). Sixth, the communities and other stakeholders who are the end-users of DH need to be engaged, mobilized and educated for active participation in DH initiatives.…”

Digital literacy level and associated factors among health professionals in a referral and teaching hospital: An implication for future digital health systems implementation

“…Digital technology has a tremendous effect on improving the quality of health services in both developed and developing nations by enhancing the accessibility of health information and creating an efficient service provision ( 1 ). In high-income countries, digital health solutions are gradually being implemented in healthcare settings ( 2 ).…”