The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, on Wednesday said that Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) would play a vital role in effective healthcare provision and delivery.
Idris said this at the Annual Scientific Conference Organised by
the Association of Resident Doctors (ARD), Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja.
Idris was represented by Dr Taiwo Olayemi, the Director, Health,
Planning and Research, Lagos State Ministry of Health.
“In terms of patient care, e-Health technologies enable remote patient monitoring, better dissemination of information to patients.
“Also, improved access to health advice, access to remote consultations and telemedicine would make for quicker access
to emergency services.
“Today, the technology most accessible to all is the mobile phone, thus, the mobile phone can become an avenue for reaching the underserved with interventions, “ he said.
The commissioner also said that ICT programmes could contribute to reaching health and development goals.
According to him, it will also contribute a major step toward
implementing recommendations such as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
“SDG target 18 makes available the benefits of new technologies in the health sector in cooperation with the private sector.
“It is necessary to harness ICT for health planning at all levels
of care.’’
Idris said that some of the several barriers to e-Health included
human, technical and financing issues.
According to him, lack of awareness of ICT, low literacy level
with shortage of evidence of cost effectiveness and interoperability, as well as security concerns also constitute as
major challenges.
On ways to overcome the challenges, he said, “Surmounting the
challenges will depend on achieving much more interoperability
and cooperation than what we have today among all major
stakeholders.’’
Also speaking, the guest speaker, Dr Ime Asangansi, Chief Executive Officer, Health4Everyone, an ICT company, said that
e-Health could be achieved by deliberate effort of all
stakeholders including patients, physicians and the government.
“There is proof that e-Health works; it saves cost, improves the
quality of care, and helps in healthcare management.
“This allows it to be more data driven and aligned to the
people,’’he said.
In his remarks, the ARD President, Dr Olugbenga Dade-
Matthews, said that the theme of the conference was chosen,
because of the need to keep pace with the giant strides in
global healthcare technology.
According to him, telecommunications and information
technology can help bridge the gaps in healthcare delivery and
complement the traditional face-to-face interactions with the
physician.
