The Digital Health Summit 2019 which held on Thursday, 21st March, 2019 at Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, did leave its mark in the Healthcare industry. It was the first Digital Health Summit in Nigeria. The aim of the event was to find out the progress and challenges of the health sector in leveraging mobile technology in Nigeria. The Digital Health Summit 2019 created a unique environment where ideas were exchanged and collaborations fostered. There were opportunities to build new relationships and strengthen old ones. It was a coming together of stakeholders in the healthcare industry and featured high level representation from the Federal Ministry of Health, National Assembly, State Ministry of Health, World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Bank.
The event started at 9:45am with the National Anthem which was anchored by Mrs. Funke Oluwole, followed by the opening speech by the CEO, Premier Medical Systems, Dr. Niyi Osamiluyi. In his opening remarks, he said “the Summit seeks to highlight the digital solutions that leverage mobile technology to promote the achievement of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).” He added that the Summit provides an opportunity to review the progress made in the deployment of digital health interventions and to try to identify and address existing frictions.
Mrs. Clare Omatseye, President, Healthcare Federation of Nigeria (HFN), gave a stirring keynote address which was titled ‘Digital Health in Developing Countries: Challenges and Opportunities”. In her address, she explored digital health, disruptive innovation in healthcare as well as the tech giants disrupting healthcare. Mrs. Clare noted the impact of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning in healthcare, what it was, what it was evolving and how it was being applied to areas such as medical trainings, pain reduction, mental healthcare and chronic disease management. She also mentioned some indigenous notable digital health mobile solution startups. She concluded by saying that there was a need to seize the moment to unleash the power of innovators to create better models as it will put us on a path to a satisfying and sustainable healthcare system.
The Federal Ministry of Health (FMOH) was represented by the Head of eHealth, Mr Timothy Dasa who delivered the FMOH’s goodwill message. In his words, “the Federal Ministry of Health is committed in improving digital health in Nigeria in order to achieve Universal Health Coverage.
Panel discussions were other key activities at the Digital Health Summit. It involved interactions and engagements between the panelists and the audience. The panel discussions were grouped into five (5) namely: Health Insurance, Telecoms, Tech Leaders, Investor/Funders, NGO/Development Partners.
For the panel discussion 1 (Health Insurance), the panelists included Mr Olufemi Akingbade (GM, NHIS), Dr Peju Adenusi (GM, LASHA), Mr Tosin Awosika (CEO, Healthcare International Nig. Ltd) and Enitan Sawyerr (CEO, Brandbox Communication) as the moderator.
Panel discussion 2 which centered on Telecommunication, the panelists included Bolanle Afuye (Head, Digital Services, 9mobile), Mr Ayotunde Coker (CEO, Rack Centre), Mr Olusola Teniola (President, ATCON) and Mr Emmanuel Atuma (Project Director, Hello Mama, Jhpiego) as moderator.
Panelists like Mr. Dipo Faulkner (Country General Manager, IBM), Tosin Okubanjo (SMB Lead Microsoft) and Osayi Ikponmwosa-Eweka (Market Development Manager, JNCI) made up the session for Panel Discussion 3 (Tech Leaders)
Panel discussion 4 for Investor/Funders included Nafisa Bashari (Group Head, Healthcare and Petrochemicals, Bank of Industry), Heather Smith-Taylor (Director of Health Population and Nutrition USAID, Nigeria), Mr Adewale Adebowale (Head Health Sector Finance, Strategy and Innovation, Sterling Bank) and Ochuko Keyamo-Onyige (Country Manager, Nigeria, GBCHealth) as the moderator.
Mrs Njide Ndili (Country Director, PharmAccess), Dr Oniyire Adetiloye (Country Director, JHpiego), Dr Olumide Okunola (Senior Health Specialist, World Bank), Mrs Iyadunni Olubode (Country Director, MSD for Mothers) with Mr Niyi Yusuf (Country Director, Accenture) as the moderator for Panel Discussion 5 (NGO/Development Partner).
Senator Lanre Tejuoso (Chairman, Senate Committee on Health) gave a goodwill address. He said the government is dedicated in its effort in improving the state of healthcare in Nigeria.
The Summit was made colourful with a pitch competition featuring five (5) digital health entrepreneurs who had developed mobile technology solutions to advance access to quality healthcare. These entrepreneurs had been shortlisted prior to the Summit and they included Doctoora ehealth, Mobile Dentists, Neo Childcare, Swift Medispark and Bluecircle from Notita. Each was given five (5) minutes to pitch their solution. At the end of the day, Neo Childcare led by Dr Yusuf Shittu emerged the winner with a prize money of Two Hundred and Fifty Thousand Naira (N250,000) only.
In his closing remarks, the CEO, Premier Medical Systems, Dr Niyi Osamiluyi thanked everyone for coming and promised to make the next edition bigger and better. In his words, he said “the plan is for an African Digital Health Summit to succeed the Digital Health Summit next year”.
This event was convened by Premier Medical Systems (PMS) and sponsored by PharmAccess Foundation, Sterling Bank, DokiLink, Digital Health, JNCI, Bank of Industry.