Strong digital systems are the key to successful health programmes

he East African Community (EAC) Secretary GeneralHon (Dr). Peter Mathuki has said that strong digital systems are the key to successful health programmes in the region as the world becomes more technologically advanced.

Dr. Mathuki said that to fully realise the benefits of the digital transformation, it is essential for EAC Partner States to establish robust and effective governance frameworks for the health data that is being shared in order to manage risks and safeguard citizens’ rights.

In a speech read on his behalf by EAC Director of Social Sectors, Dr. Irene Isaka, during the opening session of the two-day EAC Regional Inter-Parliamentary Forum on Health, Population and Development in Kigali, Rwanda, the EAC Secretary General, Hon. (Dr.) Peter Mathuki, said that due to the high number of emerging and re-emerging health challenges around the EAC region, Partner States and Development Partners ought to find greater value in increasing the financial support for the health sector so as to finance digital interventions that enhance regional cooperation towards EAC integration.

Dr. Mathuki informed the meeting that since 2013, the EAC Secretariat through the EAC health department has been implementing different digital systems that have provided linkages and inter-operability with counterpart systems in the Partner States.

Dr. Mathuki cited the development of the EAC Regional Digital Health Initiative that is meant to promote research and development (R&D) and capacity building in digital technologies as well as EAC regional digital innovations that provide a platform of getting evidence-based information for planning and policy guidance as some of the health systems interventions implemented by the EAC Secretariat.

“I am happy to inform you that we have registered a number of achievements under digital health in EAC. The achievements made include but are not limited to the EAC Regional Health Scorecard and the digital system for facilitating Pooled Procurement of Health Commodities (Pharmaceuticals) in the Region. Most of these digital health initiatives are data-intensive,’’ said Dr. Mathuki.

The Secretary General urged the national and regional legislatures through the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance to work together and provide timely and informed policy and legal guidance on the EAC regional health sector as the region is digitalising almost all clinical and public processes as well as cross-border data sharing and big data warehousing and analytics.

On his part, Hon. Kennedy Mukulia, the Chairperson of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) General Purpose Committee, said that as region embarks on digital transformation, it is vital to recognise the power of digital health technologies from telemedicine and mobile health applications to health information systems and electronic medical records.