Limited public digital infrastructure, unreliable power infrastructure, weak data infrastructure, which threatens public safety and sovereignty, poor interoperability between digital health platforms, and a highly fragmented culture among developers of digital health technologies, exacerbating the poor coherence in health, have been identified as challenges hampering Nigeria’s digital health revolution.
In a communique issued at the end of the Sixth Annual Summit of the Legislative Network on Universal Health Coverage with the theme, “Building Responsive, Sustainable Health Systems: Leveraging Legislative Action for Digital Innovation and Human Capital for UHC,” participants also highlighted data reliability due to difficulty in data tools, lack of digital data capture, and capacity gaps among health workers as other issues slowing the digital health revolution in the country.
According to the participants, high digital illiteracy and exclusion, aggravated by gender and socioeconomic gaps, limit the participation of vulnerable Nigerians in digital health; hence, user interface and experience should be designed to encourage maximal participation by all sections of society.
In her opening remarks, Chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Senator Ipalibo Banigo, emphasised that achieving Universal Health Coverage (UHC) requires resilient systems backed by legislative action, collaboration, and sustainable financing.
She called for inter-sectoral partnerships and engagement with civil society and academia to ensure institutional accountability and health equity.
Delivering the opening address on behalf of the Senate President, Deputy Senate President Senator Barau Jibrin reiterated that “the health of a nation is the truest measure of its wealth.”
He pledged the 10th National Assembly’s commitment to placing health at the centre of its legislative agenda—ensuring that the Basic Health Care Provision Fund (BHCPF) reaches all communities, promoting laws to boost local pharmaceutical production, and integrating primary health centres with tertiary institutions.
He underscored that health security is national security and that every health facility should serve as a data collection hub for informed policymaking.
The Summit also broadly spotlighted the achievements of the current assembly in strengthening and reforming the LNU, optimising the legal framework for public health emergencies, and sustaining legislative advocacy for an increase in health financing, as well as deepening the work of state legislatures to champion health policies.
It noted some persisting challenges in the health sector, ranging from heightened chronic diseases, insufficient release of allocated funds, health worker migration, the disruptive impact of climate change, growing sedentary lifestyle, and imbalance in healthcare systems’ inputs.
Speakers and contributors at the summit acknowledged the critical role of digital innovation in not only addressing perennial challenges in the health sector, but also distributing the CommonHealth innovation. The summit deliberated on the potential of digitising healthcare in improving access, accelerating research and development, improving quality of care, and fine-tuning financing mechanisms.
The Summit further explored the interlinkages between the theme and health financing, climate, and energy sustainability, and noted that appropriation of funds without release can hinder the accomplishment of universal health coverage in Nigeria.
It also resolved that climate resilience is a priority investment to protect community health, towards overturning up to 21% of disease burdens attributed to climate change.
According to the communique, private sector participation is pivotal to expanding digital health services; therefore, private sector providers in clinics, laboratories, and diagnostic centres should be integrated into national health information systems.
It emphasised the need for proper oversight on the health sector to ensure effective and conscientious stewardship of scarce resources, adding that phased solarisation by the federal government and subsidised tariffs are important to sustainable energy strategies to power health facilities.
It noted that policies are required to streamline the client journey within Nigeria’s health system from primary healthcare to tertiary levels.
The summit agreed that the ongoing constitutional review presents a rare opportunity window for transformative financing policies for healthcare commodities to mitigate the impact of global aid cuts on essential health commodities.
Recommendations made by the participants include that legislators embrace an open-door policy to accelerate policymaking and feedback on key legislative initiatives for data governance, financing, and sustainability in healthcare, and that digitalisation efforts should be tied to professional value add for health workers through promotional certifications.
Others are that the National Assembly make laws that enable local production and reduce dependence on imports and medical tourism, and that legislators should adopt facilities and vulnerable constituents as a sustainable approach to constituency empowerment.
