The event took place on the sidelines of the 77th United Nations General Assembly in an event hosted by the United Nations Foundation\u2019s Digital Impact Alliance. It was witnessed by H.E. Lazarus Chakwera, President of the Republic of Malawi, Digital Economy Ministers from the Republic of Rwanda, the Republic of Togo, the Republic of Sierra Leone, and top executives from development partner organizations, the private sector, academia, and civil society \u201cIn my own country, the Digital Impact Alliance has supported our efforts to use data for decision making in the health sector, such as the allocation and deployment of the 900 health facilities we have started constructing, as well as in building risk and epidemiological models to predict and understand the likely impact of the pandemic on the population, and now we have a Data for Development Technical working group to apply these data models to sectors beyond health\u201d, said H.E. Lazarus Chakwera, President of the Republic of Malawi. \u201cThere are of course giant leaps we have taken to make Malawi part of the digital revolution underway around the world, including the progress we are making in constructing a fibre backbone that runs across the country and the recent establishment of a national data centre to streamline the management of public information. But the application of these things to the health sector is worthy of a special mention tonight, because tonight we are witnessing history, as Africa CDC and Smart Africa sign a Memorandum of Understanding to digitalize the health sector in Africa by the year 2030\u201d.<\/p>\n
The signed agreement will focus on connecting all of Africa\u2019s health facilities and workforce by 2030, advancing health data protection, portability, interoperability, and governance; and working together in the organization of digital health convenings to be hosted by African Union Member States. \u201cDigital health innovation holds great potential to expand access, increase quality and reduce the cost of health services across the continent,\u201d said Dr. Ahmed Ogwell Ouma, Director General a.i. of the Africa CDC. \u201cWe are committed to leveraging the full potential of technology in advancing Africa\u2019s New Public Health Order\u201d. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated home-grown innovation that resulted in a wide range of solutions for public health messaging, epidemic surveillance, screening, and diagnosis for rapid case identification, interruption of community transmission, and clinical care delivery. The digital tools not only improve the public health response but also generate vast amounts of data which, when harnessed within national health information systems, open avenues for advanced analytics, disease modelling, and forecasting. This reinforces the capacity of health authorities and policymakers to quickly detect, notify and effectively respond to public health threats.
\nMr. Lacina Kon\u00e9, Director General and CEO of Smart Africa commented: \u201cThe future of healthcare in Africa is digital-first, powered by mobility and a growing population of digital natives who demand to play a more proactive role in their health and care\u201d The agreement provides a platform for the two organizations to collaborate on a range of initiatives, including connecting all African Health Facilities and workers by 2030. The Memorandum of Understanding also paves the way for the co-hosting by the Africa HealthTech Summit that will happen on the sidelines of the upcoming International Conference on Public Health in Africa (CPHIA22), due to take place in Kigali on December 13-15.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) and Smart Africa concluded an agreement to work together towards accelerating the use of digital technologies to improve healthcare and strengthen health systems across the African continent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12963,"featured_media":17939,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,21],"tags":[7,47,22],"class_list":{"0":"post-17942","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-health","8":"category-technology","9":"tag-apie-project","10":"tag-health","11":"tag-technology"},"yoast_head":"\n