PROFOH Suport NOVARTIS E-Health Initiative In Nigeria

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. Africa is 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, PROFOH and other stakeholders remain 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.  The new enhanced version –„eHealth For Africa‟– will use tablet computers at all public health facilities to provide a two-way system of stock identification and disease surveillance data, together with training in disease management for healthcare professionals. „eHealth For Africa‟ will be implemented in all public primary health care facilities