The federal authorities and healthcare stakeholders have known as for the nationwide expansion of telemedicine services to enhance entry to high quality healthcare, notably for individuals in rural and underserved communities.
The stakeholders made the decision on Tuesday on the Nigerian Telehealth Conference 2.0, organised by Mobihealth International in Abuja.
The convention, themed “The Future of Healthcare is Connected: Click and Brick,” introduced collectively authorities officers, healthcare professionals, regulators, and private-sector representatives to debate methods to maneuver telemedicine past pilot tasks to wider implementation.
Speaking on the occasion, the Special Adviser to the President on Health, Salma Ibrahim-Anas, mentioned integrating digital expertise with present healthcare services may assist tackle boundaries to accessing medical services.
Ms Ibrahim-Anas mentioned the long run of healthcare lies in integrating digital expertise with skilled experience and bodily well being services to ship related, accessible, and inexpensive high quality services for residents nationwide.
“It captures an essential truth: the future of healthcare lies in combining the reach and convenience of digital technology with human touch, professional expertise, and the physical infrastructure of health facilities,” she mentioned.
She emphasised that President Bola Tinubu was pursuing an agenda centered on strengthening well being programs, increasing entry to important services, enhancing healthcare financing, revitalising main healthcare and advancing UHC nationwide.
However, she recognized unreliable electrical energy, poor web connectivity, insufficient financing, and regulatory considerations as challenges that should be addressed earlier than telemedicine might be applied successfully nationwide.
“As we work towards nationwide implementation of telemedicine, we must address practical foundations: reliable electricity, connectivity, sustainable financing, regulation, interoperability of health systems, data privacy, and cybersecurity,” she mentioned.
She defined that telemedicine may assist pregnant ladies, moms, and sufferers in distant communities by connecting them with healthcare professionals, specialists, and referral services for well timed, high quality care nationwide. However, cautioned that telehealth should not be seen as a substitute for healthcare employees, diagnostics, important medicines, and emergency services wanted to ship high quality affected person care successfully.
“Telehealth is not simply about deployment; it is not a replacement for our competent health workers,” she mentioned, emphasising that human experience remained central to high quality healthcare supply.
She emphasised that whereas expertise issues, healthcare supply should retain compassion, empathy, {and professional} judgment to make sure patient-centred, high quality services throughout Nigeria for all residents.
“As health professionals, we have to have that human touch to it,” she mentioned, urging compassion, empathy and professionalism in delivering related digital well being services nationwide for residents.
She additionally known as for inclusive digital well being services that might profit rural communities, ladies, individuals with disabilities, aged individuals and Nigerians with restricted digital literacy nationwide.
She urged stakeholders to measure the success of digital well being initiatives by impression on individuals’s lives moderately than the quantity of platforms created, emphasising outcomes, fairness and accessibility for residents.
Moving past pilot tasks
Earlier, Mobihealth International’s Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Funmi Adewara, mentioned Nigeria had reached a crucial stage in creating the insurance policies and regulatory frameworks wanted to develop telemedicine services.
Mrs Adewara described validating the nation’s first nationwide telemedicine guideline as an vital milestone towards enhancing entry to distant healthcare services.
“Technology can help us to collapse the distance between a doctor and a patient, regardless of their geography,” she mentioned, highlighting the potential of digital well being to develop equitable entry nationwide.
She mentioned partnerships with authorities establishments, together with the Federal Ministry of Health and the National Health Insurance Authority, had been vital to combine telemedicine into the well being system and scale back monetary boundaries for residents.
Adedolapo Fasawe, Mandate Secretary, FCT Health Services and Environment Secretariat, mentioned involving regulators, lawmakers, officers, and personal sector gamers was important to creating a sustainable telemedicine system.
Ms Fasawe mentioned Nigeria wants a framework to information digital well being follow whereas making certain accountability and accessibility for residents searching for high quality, inexpensive healthcare services by telemedicine platforms nationwide.
“We do not have enough healthcare professionals. However, when we are talking to patients through telemedicine, healthcare is more accessible, more affordable, and we cut out travel time,” she mentioned.
She added that the federal government couldn’t obtain digital well being transformation alone, emphasising the necessity for partnerships and stakeholder collaboration to drive sustainable innovation, fairness, and entry nationwide.
Fatima Kyari, Registrar and CEO of the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria, mentioned regulation remained crucial to making sure affected person security and sustaining skilled requirements in telemedicine follow.
Ms Kyari mentioned the council was dedicated to creating a system that retains healthcare professionals accountable whereas expertise improves service supply and expands entry to high quality healthcare.
“Let us ensure that the future of telemedicine is not merely technological advancement, but professionally responsible and ethically grounded,” she mentioned, calling for accountability, security {and professional} integrity nationwide.
Oyebanji Filani, Chairperson of the Nigeria Health Commissioners Forum and Ekiti Commissioner for Health, mentioned expertise may rework healthcare supply however should not weaken accountability {and professional} requirements nationwide.
“Telemedicine is not medicine without accountability. It is proper medicine delivered through another channel,” Filani mentioned, emphasising accountable follow, regulation and affected person security in digital well being supply nationwide.
(NAN)
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