The senator representing the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Ireti Kingibe, has called for increased domestic healthcare funding and legislative action to address gaps in Nigeria’s healthcare system.

Kingibe made the call during discussions on sustainable health financing at a summit in Abuja, where policymakers and health experts considered how African countries could reduce dependence on donor funding and expand proven health interventions.

“Let us commit to breaking down the silos between innovation and implementation. Let us direct our capital, our technical expertise and our legislative will towards rigorous, measurable scaling of what works,” she said, urging stakeholders to move successful health innovations beyond pilot stage to ensure they reach more people.

Kingibe added that governments and other stakeholders needed to work towards ensuring that every African had access to a longer, healthier and more productive life.

The discussions also focused on the use of technology and artificial intelligence (AI) to improve healthcare delivery, predict disease outbreaks and strengthen public health systems.

The Co-founder of MyItura, a Digital Healthcare Provider,  Shina Arogundade, said AI-powered platforms could analyse health trends and help predict disease outbreaks and climate-related events.

He stressed, however, that such tools needed proper validation and integration into national public health systems, with ethical safeguards in place.

Arogundade also called for stronger government involvement in the adoption of AI in healthcare, noting that public authorities play a central role in delivering health services.

“Healthcare is mostly run by the public sector, so government engagement is necessary to scale AI in the health sector,” he said.

He added that AI governance and intellectual property frameworks should be designed to help health innovations reach underserved communities.

The discussions come amid concerns about shortages of healthcare workers across sub-Saharan Africa. A report by the Gates Foundation, cited at the summit, noted that training enough doctors to address the region’s doctor-to-patient gap would take years, while patients needed care immediately.

The report highlighted the potential of AI and other innovations to support medical practitioners and health systems while efforts to expand the healthcare workforce continue.

However, speakers at the summit stressed the importance of moving beyond developing new technologies to ensuring that existing solutions were implemented at scale.

The summit brought together policymakers, health experts and innovators to discuss ways to strengthen health financing, improve healthcare delivery and expand access to effective interventions across Africa.