The
Federal Government has inaugurated a 20-man committee for the implementation of
Nigeria Digital in Health Initiative (NDHI) geared towards transforming national
digital healthcare architecture across the country.
The Coordinating Minister
of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Muhammad Ali Pate, while presenting letters
of appointments to members of the committee recently in Abuja, said it is
another milestone in the journey to transform Nigeria’s health sector.
Pate,
informed that the committee which will be headed by the Minister of State for
Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Tunji Alausa, is an initiative designed to
herald significant transformation in the management of data in health care
facilities.
According
to him, “the digitalization of health records will improve patient’s
experience, protection of patient’s data as well as improve patient’s health outcomes.
Using this platform will improve the work life of health providers and aid
policy makers and managers to improve on their effectiveness and efficiency and
be able to hold other stakeholders accountable.”
Minister
of State for Health and Social Welfare, Dr. Tunji Alausa, said what existed before now, is a lack of
uniform data collection and management that has presented the Nigerian
healthcare system with numerous challenges. It has limited the development of
the health industry, weakened our decision-making and has resulted in
inefficient use of resources. This has made it difficult to have a
comprehensive view of the healthcare environment.
“Our healthcare system
further suffers from data fragmentation as only a small number of private
institutions and federal institutions use Electronic Medical Record (EMR)
Electronic Health Record (EHR) platforms to keep track of patient data, promote
research, provide treatment, and manage operations and resources. While the
majority still rely on rudimentary paper-based methods.”
He said, despite
the existence of these few EMR/EHR platforms, none are standardized to
integrate, collect, and manage data across institutions or built to succinctly
share patient data in real time. This has led to significant quality gaps in
the healthcare system. Therefore, the transition to a digital health
infrastructure is not merely a choice but a necessity to revolutionize
healthcare delivery in our country.
“The Digital in Health Initiative will show
that digitalization in health goes beyond EMR/HER platforms. We want to rebuild
and reposition the digital health environment to include: Data gathering; Data
repository; Data servicing and Service regulation. The platform so created
would be such that data can be easily validated and we shall start with an EMR
system which just a part of the overall digital ecosystem, Dr. Alausa stated.”
The national unified
EMR platform will serve as a central hub to enhance health system efficiency,
ensure robust monitoring of public health and disease outbreaks, mortality
rates, facilitate seamless
