‘eHealth For Africa’ initiative makes debut in Nigeria

Thursday, July 10, 2014

AS part of efforts to strengthen health system in Nigeria, Novartis has introduced ‘eHealth For Africa’ initiative into the country – being an updated version of the Short Message Service (SMS) for Life system in public health facilities.

And given the Lagos State Ministry of Health’s approval, the initiative is set to commence operation in public health facilities in Lagos.

‘eHealth For Africa’ is a new computer-based solution to support medical stock visibility and reporting, disease surveillance, and health workers’ training.

The programmme originates from SMS for Life, a Roll Back Malaria (RBM) Partnership Initiative led by Novartis and introduced in Tanzania, Kenya, Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Cameroon. ‘eHealth For Africa’ will provide the Lagos State Ministry of Health with information covering disease areas such as malaria, Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV), measles, yellow fever and cholera.

Novartis’ President, Asia-Pacific, Middle East and African countries, Rainer Boehm observed, at a forum in Lagos that Africa was still disproportionately affected by infectious diseases that put a significant burden on developing economies, with life expectancy 15 years less than the global average.

“In supporting the implementation of ‘eHealth For Africa’ in Nigeria, Novartis remains committed to fighting the battle against malaria and other infectious diseases and improving the lives of patients in other countries across Africa as well,” he said.

Source: The Guardian Nigeria (link opens in a new window)

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Health Care
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healthcare technology, public health