By Oluwole Alao
In line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration at redefining priority areas with a focus on education, health, and social investment as essential pillars of development, the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is set to partner with the Koyo Healthtech Limited, a United Kingdom healthcare company in democratising access to quality digital healthcare services to Nigerians.
This was made known by the NITDA Director General, Kashifu Inuwa CCIE when he played host to a delegation from the Koyo Healthtech Limited, led by its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Dr Thomas Peter Cracknell to the corporate headquarters of the agency in Abuja.
Inuwa asserted that the collaboration between the two organisations would address the critical challenges of misdiagnosis and inadequate medical facilities in local communities and also bring advanced digital healthcare solutions, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven diagnostics and telemedicine to unserved and underserved areas.
Speaking emphatically on the challenges of healthcare delivery being faced in rural areas and the advantages of adopting telemedicine in providing adequate and prompt healthcare to rural communities, Inuwa mentioned that the agency is partnering with e-Health Africa in establishing a main clinic equipped with a digital lab in a central town which will be connected through advanced technology to smaller satellite clinics set up in other remote locations.
“We are partnering with e-Health Africa to have a clinic that will connect remotely to others with AI technology where people can go and speak to a doctor in the main clinic or interact with a chatbot but for the meantime, a doctor would review before issuing the prescription, “he noted.
The DG additionally noted that there have been talks with the Minister of Health to ensure that hospitals across the nation are digitised toward providing quality healthcare in the country while disclosing the ministry’s readiness to support private, non-profit, and governmental initiatives that leverage technology for healthcare improvements.
He maintained that that system would allow patients in remote areas to consult with doctors or AI chatbots at local clinics which would reduce the need for the physical presence of doctors without compromising the quality of healthcare delivery.
Giving the agency assurances in providing enabling policies and regulations that would aid the collaboration between the two organisations, Inuwa stated that the agency employs a developmental regulation model while encouraging stakeholders to propose innovative solutions that will be guided by existing laws and new policies that will be co-created.
In ensuring effective implementation of these legal frameworks and policies, he disclosed that the agency has partnered with universities in the UK and Nigeria in offering IT law cases toward equipping lawyers with necessary skills to navigate the evolving landscape of technology and healthcare.
Noting that the agency’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP) 2.0 has been crafted to democratise access to quality services, including healthcare, Inuwa stated that “our vision is to make Nigeria a digitally empowered nation, fostering inclusive economic growth through technological innovation and healthcare is on top of whatever we do because we cannot achieve inclusive growth without good mental health and access to quality health care services.”
In his earlier remark, Dr Cracknell stated that the Koyo Healthtech Ltd.’s focus in Nigeria is to understand patients and their disconnection from health services and offering services in terms of information technology to bridge the gap.
While soliciting for the agency’s support in terms of regulations and policies, Cracknell noted that in providing access to quality healthcare delivery and not just mass-produced low-quality healthcare, NITDA’s support in providing guiding principles in adherence to Nigerian regulations and policies will go a long way.
“We are looking to do it right by Nigeria and Nigeria is where our central passion is right now and we are trying to bring value to people, particularly in the rural areas,” he concluded.