Healthcare delivery in Africa still a big challenge, health experts warn

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Healthcare delivery in Africa still a big challenge, health experts warn

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KBC News,  2024.

The adoption or harnessing of emerging technologies in the healthcare system in Africa to improve healthcare delivery remains low. It is reported that while the continent forms 18% of the global population, Africa accounts for 25% of the global diseases. Though there are already efforts by various member states to harness emerging technologies in healthcare, there are still barriers that need to be addressed to fully leverage the potential of emerging technologies to revolutionize healthcare systems across the continent. It is on this backdrop that regional economic communities (RECs) from East Africa, West African Health Organizations COMESA and Intergovernmental Authority on Development, gathered in Nairobi for a two-day forum to address challenges facing the countries in the region in the adoption of the emerging technologies in the health sector.

The forum in partnership with African Institute for Development Policy (AFIDEP) and the African Union Development Agency-NEPAD brought on board health, science and innovation experts who underscored the need to leverage on the emerging technologies in the health sector by member states to improve healthcare delivery to the citizenry. “We have 55 Africa union member states, for us to accelerate the integration of Africa, we need to pilot it at the regional level, we have 8 regions, not geographical but economic regions commonly referred to as regional economic communities (RECs), so the intention here is to start engaging with them on the latest development of using technology to address issues related to health,” noted Lukovi Seke, Science, Technology and Innovation, AUDA-NEPAD