Is Nigeria Getting Left Behind In Health Technology?

A person precocious shared the communicative of a parent successful agrarian Taraba whose kid fell dangerously sick successful the mediate of the night. The nearest infirmary was implicit 2 hours away, with unsmooth terrain making the travel adjacent much difficult. By the clip they arrived, the child’s information had worsened significantly. One can’t assistance but wonder: what if she had been capable to link with a doc done telemedicine? What if integer tools had provided a diagnosis oregon proposal earlier she embarked connected that agelong journey?

This is not conscionable her story, it is the harsh world for millions of Nigerians who stay chopped disconnected from timely healthcare. Not due to the fact that the aesculapian cognition doesn’t exist, but due to the fact that the exertion that could span the spread has yet to instrumentality basal successful our wellness system.

Globally, integer wellness has evolved from a buzzword into a captious lifeline. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) reported that implicit 70 per cent of countries integrated telemedicine into their healthcare systems, allowing distant consultations and easing the load connected hospitals. Today, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is already being utilized to observe cancers done imaging, optimize infirmary logistics, and adjacent foretell illness outbreaks earlier they occur.

In Nigeria, advancement has been painfully slow. While our doctors are world-class, the tools they person to enactment with are outdated, and wellness exertion policies proceed to lag behind. According to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), broadband penetration stood astatine conscionable 48 per cent successful 2023, meaning that implicit fractional of the colonisation inactive lacks reliable net access. Frequent powerfulness outages, anemic infrastructure, and constricted integer literacy further compound the challenge, making it hard for integer wellness solutions to instrumentality root.

Our healthcare strategy is already nether tremendous strain. With a doctor-to-patient ratio of 1:10,000, acold from the World Health Organisation’s recommended 1:600 entree to prime attraction remains a large challenge. Telemedicine has the imaginable to span this gap, yet astir nationalist hospitals inactive run without basal physics wellness records. Although Nigerian startups similar Helium Health and Doctoora are pioneering integer wellness platforms, their services presently scope lone a tiny fraction of the population.

The stakes are high. Without integer wellness adoption, Nigeria risks widening wellness inequality. In municipality centers similar Lagos and Abuja, elites tin already entree online consultations done backstage apps. But successful agrarian Sokoto oregon Bayelsa, families inactive trust connected word-of-mouth remedies oregon distant wellness centers.

Telemedicine is not conscionable a convenience; it tin mean the quality betwixt beingness and death. AI-powered tools, for instance, tin analyse humor samples faster than quality doctors, observe diseases similar malaria oregon tuberculosis early, and urge attraction paths. In countries with akin challenges, specified arsenic Rwanda, AI-driven diagnostics are already portion of nationalist wellness systems.

So, what holds Nigeria back?

Infrastructure gaps: Unstable energy and mediocre net connectivity cripple telemedicine platforms.

Policy vacuum: The state lacks a wide nationalist telemedicine instrumentality to modulate the signifier and support patients.

Skepticism: Many patients are wary of seeing doctors “through a screen.” Awareness remains low.

Cost: Digital wellness infrastructure requires dense upfront investment, which is often deprioritised.

Yet, determination is hope. Nigeria has implicit 170 cardinal mobile subscriptions, making america Africa’s largest smartphone marketplace (GSMA, 2023). Our youthful, tech-savvy colonisation is primed for integer adoption. With the close push, mobile apps could enactment everything from maternal wellness check-ins to medicine reminders.

Imagine agrarian clinics connected to teaching hospitals via telemedicine. Imagine AI tools helping nurses observe aboriginal signs of changeable oregon bosom disease. Imagine less families traveling hours conscionable to spot a doctor. These are not far-fetched dreams; they are realities already unfolding successful parts of Africa.

To drawback up, Nigeria indispensable enactment decisively,

Government investment: Integrate integer wellness into nationalist wellness strategies, prioritsing net and energy successful agrarian areas.